Before being charged, both Dylan Healy, age 22, and Andrew Hill, age 35, were captured by Russian forces in April.
According to Russian state media, two British men detained by Kremlin forces in separatist-held eastern Ukraine have been charged with “mercenary activities.”
Both Dylan Healy, age 22, and Andrew Hill, age 35, were reportedly captured in April.
Mr. Healy, from Cambridgeshire, was detained at a checkpoint south of the city of Zaporizhia while serving as an aid worker for the British non-profit Presidium Network.
Along with him was another British national, Paul Urey, 45, who has been described as a father of three.
In April, footage of Mr. Hill with a bandaged left arm and a makeshift dressing on his head was broadcast on Russian television.
After being charged, Mr. Healy and Mr. Hill reportedly refused to cooperate, according to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) officials quoted by the TASS news agency.
A DPR source told TASS, “Criminal cases have been opened and charges have been filed for (mercenaries) against British nationals Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill, who are currently detained in DPR.”
“Investigative operations are currently underway as investigators search for evidence of crimes committed by the British, who refuse to testify and cooperate in their criminal cases.”
In an April video broadcast on Russian television, a man with an English accent identified himself as Andrew Hill from Plymouth.
Mr. Healy and Mr. Hill will face the same mercenary charges as British military volunteers Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, according to a pro-Kremlin website.
In June, a DPR court sentenced to death 28-year-old Mr. Aslin of Newark, Nottinghamshire, and 48-year-old Mr. Pinner of Bedfordshire.
However, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) intervened in their cases on Thursday, warning Moscow not to carry out the death penalty.
Mr. Aslin and Mr. Pinner have resided in Ukraine since 2018 and maintain that they were legitimately serving with the country’s military, thereby qualifying them for Geneva Convention protections for prisoners of war.
Scott Sibley, 36, a former British soldier believed to have traveled to Ukraine to fight against Russian forces, became the first British national confirmed to have died in the conflict.
