The men were killed while attempting to flee the town of Soledar for humanitarian reasons, according to the men’s families.
According to a statement from their families, two British volunteers who had been reported missing in eastern Ukraine were killed while attempting to evacuate aid workers from Soledar.
Early this month, 48-year-old Andrew Bagshaw and 28-year-old Christopher Parry vanished while travelling to Soledar, a salt mining town where Russian and Ukrainian forces were engaged in a fierce battle for control.
Both men’s deaths were confirmed by Parry’s family in a statement issued by the British Foreign Office.
“It is with great sadness we have to announce that our beloved Chrissy has been killed along with his colleague Andrew Bagshaw whilst attempting a humanitarian evacuation from Soledar, eastern Ukraine,” said the statement, which was released on Tuesday.
Ukrainian police said on January 9 that they had lost contact with Bagshaw and Perry after the two men left Kramatorsk for Soledar on January 6.
Sky News reported Bagshaw’s family as saying the two men were killed while trying to rescue an elderly woman.
The statement gave no details on the circumstances of the men’s deaths, adding that Parry “found himself drawn to Ukraine in March in its darkest hour at the start of the Russian invasion and helped those most in need, saving over 400 lives plus many abandoned animals”.
Britain’s Foreign Office said it was supporting the families. Bagshaw was also a national of New Zealand where he was living when he travelled to Ukraine.
