FOOTAGE has emerged on Russian state TV showing an interview with a Cheshire aid worker who went missing in Ukraine.

Paul Urey, believed to be from Culcheth, was captured by the Russian military along with fellow British national Dylan Healy, 22, last Monday, April 25, not-for-profit organisation Presidium Network says.

The men were stopped at a checkpoint near the city of Zaporizhzhya in the south of the war-torn country close to land under Russian control.

They are accused of being ‘mercenaries’ by Russia, for which a prosecutor in Moscow has said the maximum penalty is the death sentence.

New video has now surfaced of the Warrington man being asked questions while in handcuffs explaining why he was in Ukraine, although it is not clear whether he is speaking under duress.

The 45-year-old says he previously travelled to Iraq, Afghanistan between 2008 and 2010, as well as to Libya to ‘help the revolution’.

Mr Urey is recorded saying he travelled to Ukraine to ‘see if the refugee crisis was really as bad as what they say on the news’ back home, and that he ‘does not believe the news in England’.

Explaining his capture, he says he was taking photos of a damaged bridge which he said ‘was not’ caused by a ‘Russian strike’, and had been ‘blown up from underneath’.

He said this was ‘evidence that the media in England is lying’.

Following the emergence of the interview, Mr Urey’s mother Linda said: “I have watched the interview on Russian TV of my son Paul Urey.

“This is physically my son, but he is not acting in his natural way; his words are too matter of fact and his facial expressions make me not believe what he is saying.

“Normally he speaks fast and to the point.

“I know my son like every mother, and this is not him being natural.”

Mr Urey has not been heard from since 4am on April 25, and following news breaking of his detainment, the Foreign Office said it was ‘urgently seeking more information’.

Him and fellow aid worker Mr Healy are believed to have been working independently, but they were in touch with the Presidium Network.

They were said to be trying to rescue a family from a village near Zaporizhzhia at the time of their capture.

Presidium described Mr Urey as a family man who previously spent eight years as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan.

Mr Healy – who was driving the humanitarian workers at the time – is described as a chef by training having worked for a hotel chain.

Following news of his capture last week, Mr Urey’s mum said she was ‘extremely worried’ for his welfare, as her son has type one diabetes and requires insulin shots.

She said in a statement: “We know my son has been captured by the Russians while trying to help citizens in Ukraine.

“He was out there on his own accord.

“We want everyone’s support to bring him home. We have asked Presidium Network to help support us and who have helped verify my son has been captured.”

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan told Sky News: “The Foreign Office obviously has been working very closely with those in Ukraine both to make sure the identification is correct and indeed to work with local authorities and to support families here.

"As we have set out right from the beginning, we do not want British nationals to go and fight, but there are many, many ways in which so many people can all support.

“We do not want people to go and fight, but obviously the Foreign Office is doing all it can to support and identify these two people.”