A British man, John Harding, who had been fighting Russia as part of the Azov Regiment was captured by Russian proxies and is being held in the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” in eastern Ukraine.
That’s according to the BBC referring to Harding’s video interview with a Russian TV presenter.
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In the video, he says he could face the death penalty and turns to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to facilitate his release.
The Foreign Office said it was concerned by his detention.
“It understood Mr Harding was captured in May when Ukrainian units he was fighting with at the Azovstal steelworks were forced to surrender. The units had been defending the south-eastern city of Mariupol at the time. The video says he was part of the Azov regiment. Mr Harding had told friends he was fighting as part of the Ukrainian National Guard,” the report reads.
Read also: Russia must bear full responsibility for Briton’s death in Donbas captivity – Foreign Office
Harding had been fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region since 2018. He previously told the BBC he had travelled there to use his skills as a combat medic, to help in the fight against Russian proxies.
Two other British men, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were also captured in Mariupol, have been sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in the “DPR.”
Both they and Mr Harding had moved to Ukraine around the same time and made the country their home.
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This week Paul Urey, a British aid worker, died while being held by Russian proxies in east Ukraine.
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