Bodies of two Brit volunteers killed in Ukraine returned by the Russians as part of swap for 116 soldiers
THE BODIES of two Brit volunteers killed in Ukraine have been returned by the Russians as part of a prisoner exchange.
Christopher Parry, 28, and Andrew Bagshaw, 48, have reportedly seen their remains handed over by Putin's forces.
The two men's bodies were handed over along with 116 Ukrainians who had been held prison by the Russians.
Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president's office, confirmed the swap.
Parry and Bagshaw disappeared on January 6 near Soledar, while helping to evacuate civilians.
The deal was brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
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Putin's men also returned the body of Yevhen Kulik, a Ukrainian who served in the French Foreign.
Ukraine exchanged 63 jailed Russians as part of the swap.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said the returning prisoners were “defenders of Mariupol, partisans from Kherson, snipers from the Bakhmut and other heroes of ours”.
"We continue to work. Let's get everyone back," said Yermak.
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Parry's family confirmed the pair disappeared while trying to rescue civilians in eastern Bakhmut.
"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," the family said.
"His selfless determination in helping the old, young and disadvantaged there has made us and his larger family extremely proud.
"We never imagined we would be saying goodbye to Chris when he had such a full life ahead of him. He was a caring son, fantastic brother, a best friend to so many and a loving partner to Olga.
"Chris was a confident, outward-looking and adventurous young man who was loyal to everyone he knew.
"He lived and worked away as a software engineer but Cornwall was always his home. He loved rock climbing, cycling, running and skydiving and wanted to travel the world.
"He 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.
"It is impossible to put into words how much he will be missed but he will forever be in our hearts.
"We feel so privileged that he chose our family to be part of."
Last month, Russian forces brandished passports belonging to two Brits.
Pictures appearing to show the pair's UK passports were posted online by the pro-Putin Wagner private army.
Parry, a running coach from Cheltenham, previously told Sky News that his job was to drive about an hour to frontline villages to evacuate civilians.
He said: “I take each day as it comes. Sometimes when you see some pretty terrible things it does stay with you, for example the burnt out corpse of a mother who we had been evacuating.
“But you you’ve got a job. You’re in a position of care and as soon as you pick these people up you’ve got to get out and get away from the artillery, which is constantly going off around us.
“When you get back and think ‘that was kind of close that was only 100 metres away from us’ that's when you think maybe my luck might run out but it’ s worth it to save these people.”
He had been raising money through to buy a new off-road vehicle to carry out his work.
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While Bagshaw had been working as part of a team of Ukrainian and international volunteers delivering aid and evacuating citizens, reported
His parents Philip and Dame Susan Bagshaw, who founded of the Canterbury Charity Hospital, previously described their son as “a very intelligent, independently minded person”, who went to Ukraine as a volunteer to help people.