Footage showing a wounded Briton captured in Ukraine was broadcast on Russian state television.
The video, published by the Moscow Ministry of Defense, shows the man with a bandaged left arm, a makeshift bandage around his head and blood on his right arm.
During an obvious interrogation by the Russian military, the man said: “I have no rank … I just know that the foreign legion said I could help.”
Speaking in a British accent, he said his name was Andrew Hill, that he was from Plymouth and that he had four children and a partner.
Mr Hill said he had traveled alone and voluntarily to help Ukraine by entering the country from Poland and helping refugees near the border before being sought for “further assistance” in the country.
When Mr. Hill asked if he was safe, one of the Russians replied, “Yes, you are completely safe.” They said he would receive medical treatment for his injuries, which appeared to include a bullet wound.
Russia’s defense ministry says Hill “laid down his arms and surrendered” to Russian troops in Ukraine’s southwestern Mykolaiv region, where it was reported yesterday that Scott Sibley, a 36-year-old British military veteran, had been killed in battle. against the forces of Vladimir Putin.
The ministry said the “mercenary group” in which Mr Hill was allegedly fought had been defeated.
The footage says he was part of a group of seven. Asked who gave them orders, Mr Hill said they had received “very minimal” information and had not been told “much at all, if anything”.
A Russian spokesman said he could not say when Mr Hill could return to England, but added: “You can be sure that nothing is threatening your life.”
The United Kingdom’s Office for Foreign Affairs and Development (FCDO) is believed to be investigating reports of a British citizen being detained by Russia and supporting their family.
Mr Hill is the third British citizen to appear on Russian state television in recent weeks, with Aidan Aslin, 28, and Sean Piner, 48, captured by Moscow troops in the devastated city of Mariupol earlier this month.
Mr Aslin’s relatives condemned allegations that he was a “volunteer, mercenary or spy” as “propaganda” issued by the Kremlin, saying: “Aiden was making plans for his future outside the army, but like all Ukrainians, his life was turned upside down. upside down from Putin’s barbaric invasion. He played his role in defending Ukraine’s right to self-determination.
“Aiden’s video, which speaks under duress and is apparently physically injured, is deeply disturbing. The use of images and videos of prisoners of war is contrary to the Geneva Convention and must be stopped.
The FCDO previously said Mr Piner also lived in Ukraine before the invasion.
Ukrainian authorities estimated in March that at least 20,000 people from 52 different countries had come to help defend themselves against Putin’s invasion, around which time the UK Ministry of Defense said a “small number” of troops were withdrew despite orders not to travel to Ukraine.
Official councils in the UK were initially confused, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss forced to back down her claim that she would “absolutely support” British citizens defending Ukraine after Defense Minister Ben Wallace said he did not “want to see British killed more than I want to see Ukrainians.
Additional Reuters reports
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