Final message to daughters of British aid worker who died in Ukraine

‘Your dad thought about you every day’: Cellmate of tragic British aid worker who died in Ukraine after being captured and tortured by pro-Russian forces delivers final message to his grieving daughters

  • Paul Urey, 45, and Dylan Healy, 22, captured in Zaporizhzhia region on April 25
  • The two men were taken to a prison camp in Ukraine’s east and tortured
  • Mr Urey died on July 10 from ‘illness and stress’ in the self-proclaimed DPR
  • Mr Healy was freed on September 21 and today recounted his ordeal to the press
  • He relayed Mr Urey’s message to Courtney, 17, and Chelsea, 21, a few days ago

The British aid worker who was tortured and tragically died in the jail of a Moscow-backed proxy group in Ukraine sent the final message, ‘I love you so much and thought about you every day,’ to his daughters.

Paul Urey, 45, who was captured in the Zaporizhzhia region on April 25, died on July 10 from ‘illness and stress’ in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donestk (DPR) after being taken to a prison camp in Ukraine’s east.

His cellmate Dylan Healy, 22, was also imprisoned and tortured alongside the 45-year-old, but Mr Healy was later freed on September 21 with four other Britons.

According to the Mirror, Mr Healy told grieving sisters Courtney Coman, 17, and Chelsea Coman, 21, of Warrington: ‘Your dad loved you and thought about you every day.’

He has revealed the ordeal the pair were put through, which he says involved a mock execution and torture by pro-Russian troops.

Paul Urey, 45, with his daughter Courtney Coman, 17. The father-of-four was captured in the Zaporizhzhia region on April 25 and died on July 10 from ‘illness and stress’ in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donestk (DPR)

Mr Urey with his daughters Chelsea (left) and Courtney (right). His cellmate Dylan Healy, 22, told the grieving sisters: ‘Your dad loved you and thought about you every day’

The two were on an aid mission in Ukraine when they were ambushed and forced out of their cars and to kneel by the side of the road.

A soldier cocked his gun – but fired the shot into the ground between duo. Then they were taken to prison.

The pair made a pact that they would get in touch with the other’s family if the worst were to happen, which led to Mr Healy’s emotional meeting with two of the father-of-four’s children a few days ago.

He told the Sunday Mirror: ‘Me and Paul promised that if anything happened we would speak to each other’s families.

‘He said, ‘Let my family know I love them, that I thought about them every day.’ I never thought I’d have to do it – after we were captured, I thought we’d both die.

‘He was desperate to make it home to see you.’

Mr Healy was at least able to tell Chelsea and Courtney that the aid worker was given his medication for his diabetes.

The aid worker left an emotional message for his daughters, after he was tortured and tragically died in the jail of a Moscow-backed proxy group in Ukraine

Courtney said: ‘It was difficult hearing what Dad went through, but at least we know the truth now.

‘At one point there were reports he’d been dismembered. That was awful, but thankfully untrue.’

Mr Healy added: ‘I was nervous meeting his daughters but it was good… like I’ve known them for years.’

Chelsea, who said she felt relieved having had the meeting, said: ‘I’m so grateful we heard it from him and not someone else.

‘We didn’t want to pressure Dylan, didn’t want him to think he was being interrogated again. We’re just so happy he agreed to meet us.’

Mr Healy lived in Ely, Cambs, working as a hotel chef.

Then, when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, he joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.

Later, he became an aid worker, which was when he met Mr Urey, who had been rejected by the Foreign Legion due to his health.

The duo were travelling from Odessa to Zaporizhzhia to rescue a man and two children when they were captured and taken to a facility near Mariupol.

Of the mock execution upon being ordered out of their vehicle, Mr Healy said: ‘All the gunman had to do was pull the trigger and we were gone. We were silent. He asked us if we had any last words and we said no.

‘Then he fired a shot into the mud in the middle of the two of us. Paul went, ‘That was a close one’.’

Mr Urey was captured in the Zaporizhzhia region on April 25 while trying to cross a Russian checkpoint (pictured, the city’s nuclear power plant after being attacked by Russia) 

After his capture, Mr Urey was taken to the Donetsk region where he was held in a detention camp (pictured, the destroyed city of Mariupol in the same region) 

At the time Mr Urey was captured, Russia had been pushed back from Kyiv (pictured) and was preparing an assault in the Donbas while steadily taking territory in the south 

Recalling his months of mistreatment in captivity, Mr Healy said he was beaten with batons, tortured with electric prongs and waterboarded in attempts to force a confession.

He said: ‘There was no panic, I was resigned. I didn’t want to cry because it wasn’t going to change it. They shouted at you if you slept.

‘They waterboarded me. They put me on a table, put a rag in my mouth and poured water in until I was choking.

‘When I spoke to Paul he said this hadn’t happened to him. They wanted to know how we’d got behind the lines and why – and if we were British spies.

‘There were regular beatings, every day. They had old-style police batons and my ribs were broken.’

The duo were then taken to tiny cells in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, where heavy metal music was blasted out and Mr Healy said he was Tasered multiple times during the two weeks he spent there.

The pair were then moved to another prison in Makiivka, where Mr Urey was ‘quiet and really struggling’, said Mr Healy.

Both of them were given charges of ‘mercenary activities’ on July 8, with Mr Healy facing 14 years in jail and the death penalty and Mr Urey facing seven years. Mr Healy said they signed a confesssion ‘to minimise risk to ourselves’.

Then, on their way back to the prison, Mr Urey needed to be sick and was taken out of the van.

‘They did something to make him scream for 10, 20 seconds,’ said Mr Healy. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever hear someone scream like that again. That was the last time I saw Paul alive.’

Mr Urey was coughing and choking two days later.

‘At that point we said, ‘Paul’s dead’,’ said Mr Healy Dylan. ‘I couldn’t take it in. He was a very good friend – I honestly would have swapped with him straight away.’

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