A Briton who was captured by Russian forces in Ukraine has turned to Boris Johnson for help after being told he could face the death penalty.
John Harding, aged in his 50s and originally from Sunderland, is believed to have been captured fighting with the Azov Regiment, part of the Ukrainian National Guard, while helping to defend the city of Mariupol in May.
Ukrainian forces were forced to surrender in the southeastern port city after its relentless bombardment.
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In a video shared on the Telegram messaging app by Russian journalist Kim Marina on Friday, Mr Harding said: “I would say to Boris Johnson, if you can help, if you can influence President Zelensky, if you can influence the President of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), or if you can influence President Putin, please do.
“People’s lives depend on it. So if you can please help.
“Because otherwise I face a death sentence, my friends face a death sentence.
Mr Harding’s friends and family confirmed to the BBC that he was in the video and his relatives were being supported by the Foreign Office.
He had been fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since 2018 before being captured.
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Later in the video, Ms Marina asks Mr Harding what his last words would be to his daughter Catherine if he was given the death sentence.
Mr. Harding replies, “Obviously I would have told her that I wish I had spent more time with her, but I didn’t. Actually, I do not know.”
When he asks if he’s going to tell her if he loves her, Mr Harding takes a drag on a cigarette before saying: ‘Sure. All fathers love their daughters.’
The age of Mr Harding’s daughter has not been released.
Ms Marina wrote in a post accompanying the video that the clip would be included in a documentary she made called ‘Nazi Punishers’, adding that ‘two Britons have already been sentenced to death’ in the same cell.
She did not name the men, but British fighters Aidan Aslin, 28, and Sean Pinner, 48, who were both captured in Mariupol, were sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in the DPR last month.
Therefore, Mr. Harding would also have been detained in the DNR if he had shared a cell with the two men.
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0:18 ‘God will judge me’: Aidan Aslin reacts to the death sentence
Foreign Office criticizes ‘false convictions’
Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner moved to Ukraine around the same time as Mr Harding in 2018 and made the country their home.
The two men were found to be mercenaries, but the UK Foreign Office called the convictions “sham convictions”.
On Friday, a Russian journalist shared a video of Mr. Aslin singing the Russian national anthem, weeks after he was sentenced to death.
It comes after a British aid worker who was being held by Russian separatists in Ukraine died earlier this week.
Paul Urie is believed to have died “due to an illness” on July 10, according to information his family received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
DPR officials said he died in captivity of underlying health problems and “stress.”
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