Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Perry were confirmed dead last month (Picture:SWNS/AP)
Christopher Perry and Andrew Bagshaw were confirmed dead last month (Picture:SWNS/AP)

The bodies of two Brits aid workers who died in Ukraine are being returned to the UK.

The move comes amid a large prisoner swap for Russian soldiers.

Chris Parry, 28, and colleague Andrew Bagshaw, 47, were confirmed dead last month.

The pair had travelled to Soledar, in the east of the country, to volunteer with aid efforts.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, said that the bodies had been handed over by the Russians as part of a prisoner of war exchange.

Christopher’s body will be flown to the UK and Andrew’s to New Zealand.

Mr Yermak tweeted: ‘Another big POWs swap. We managed to get back 116 of our people.

‘Those are the defenders of Mariupol, Kherson partisans, snipers from Bakhmut vicinities, and other heroes of ours.

Christopher Parry. See SWNS story SWBNparry. The family of a British volunteer who has gone missing while helping to evacuate civilians from the frontline in Ukraine has launched a desperate plea for his safe return. Christopher Parry, 28, disappeared alongside fellow Brit Andrew Bagshaw, 48, with the pair not seen for several days, according to local police. The duo were heading to the town of Soledar in the Donetsk region where fighting has been fierce in recent days. The last contact they had was when they left Kramatorsk at 8am on Friday. Mr Parry, a humanitarian volunteer who has been helping to evacuate citizens from the front line, was born in Truro, Cornwall, but had moved to Cheltenham, Glos,.
Christopher Parry (Picture: Courtesy of Christine Parry/SWNS)

‘We managed to take the bodies of the foreign volunteers who’d perished, Christopher Matthew Perry and Andrew Tobias Matthew, as well as the body of Evgen Kulyk, a Ukrainian who’d served with the French Foreign Legion and volunteered to join the Ukrainian forces.’

Bagshaw, a resident of New Zealand, was in Ukraine to assist in delivering humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile Christopher had joined other volunteers on a rescue mission in Ukraine to help people escape bombed areas.

Speaking to Sky News last year he said: ‘I went to a military command unit and spoke to a number of soldiers who described Bakhmut as the ‘worst place they had ever been’.

This undated photo provided by the Bagshaw family, shows Andrew Bagshaw. Bagshaw, 47, a dual New Zealand and British citizen, was killed along with British colleague Chris Parry while attempting to rescue an elderly woman from the town of Soledar, Ukraine, when their car was hit by an artillery shell, Bagshaw's parents say Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (The Bagshaw Family via AP)
Andrew Bagshaw (Picture: AP)

The two men’s bodies were handed over along with 116 Ukrainians who had been held prison by the Russians.

Dozens of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war have returned home following a prisoner swap today, officials on both sides said.

Top Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said in a Telegram post that 116 Ukrainians were freed.

He said the released POWs include troops who held out in Mariupol during Moscow’s long siege that reduced the southern port city to ruins, as well as guerrilla fighters from the Kherson region and snipers captured during the ongoing fierce battles for the eastern city of Bakhmut.

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Russian defence officials, meanwhile, announced that 63 Russian troops had returned from Ukraine following the swap, including some ‘special category’ prisoners whose release was secured following mediation by the United Arab Emirates.

This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

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