An NGO said it had provided details to the department following the arrest of the men by Russian forces in southern Ukraine after they had gone to an area to help bring a family out. The Presidium Network, a UK-based organization that says it is evacuating families and people from war zones, said it knew the men, who traveled to Ukraine on a “freelance basis”. A Presidium spokesman said she was in contact with the mother of one of the men – with whom she last spoke on Monday. The group said it intended to work with the men, who were missing south of Zaporizhia, and provided details of the messages in which they had reported their location. Both appeared to be members of the public with little or no experience of military or humanitarian work. There were no immediate comments from FCDO. “The Foreign Office is doing everything it can to support and identify these two people,” Commerce Minister Anne-Marie Trevelian told Sky News. The thinktank Institute for the Study of War warned this week that Russian forces were stepping up kidnapping of Ukrainian citizens for use in prisoner exchanges. On Thursday, the Foreign Office confirmed that a British citizen had been killed in Ukraine and another was missing, amid reports that both were volunteers who had gone to fight in the country. The British man who died was believed to be Scott Sibley, a former soldier who had served abroad. Former colleagues paid tribute to a Facebook page run by veterans of the Commando Logistics Squadron, where they described him as a man who “had shown commando spirit to the end”. Scott Simbley. Photo: Sky Sibley is believed to be the first British fighter to be killed in a battle in Ukraine. A small number of British servicemen are thought to have been absent without permission to join the resistance against the Russian invasion, while veterans and British without combat experience are believed to have also traveled to Ukraine. There was initial confusion over the government’s position after Foreign Minister Liz Trouse, in a commentary during a BBC interview on 26 February, said she would “fully” support UK nationals who have chosen to fight for Ukraine. The Facebook page honoring Sibley posted a photo of him serving in the military in his youth. He appears to be in uniform, standing at what appears to be Bagram Airport in Afghanistan.
