A MAN from the North East, thought to have been captured by pro-Russian separatists, has appeared in a video appealing for help from Boris Johnson.

John Harding, who is in his fifties and originally from Sunderland, is believed to be in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine.

In the video, interviewed by a Russian TV presenter, he says he could face the death penalty.

It understood Mr Harding was taken prisoner in May when Ukrainian soldiers he was fighting with at the Azovstal steelworks were forced to surrender.

They had been defending the south-eastern city of Mariupol at the time.

Mr Harding had told friends he was fighting as part of the Ukrainian National Guard and the video says he was part of the Azov regiment.

Friends and family of Mr Harding have confirmed to the BBC it was him in the video, and his family are being supported by the Foreign Office.

Read more: What Rishi Sunak will do if he loses leadership race

It is understood Mr Harding had been fighting in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region since 2018 and previously told the BBC he had travelled there to use his skills as a combat medic to help in the fight against pro-Russian rebels.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, other Brits captured in Mariupol, have been sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in the DPR.

Mr Harding and the men moved to Ukraine around the same time and made the country their home.

The DPR court is not internationally recognised and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has called the death sentences a "sham judgement with absolutely no legitimacy".

They should be treated as prisoners of war under the laws laid out in the Geneva Conventions, the UK Government has said.

This week British aid worker Paul Urey died while being held by pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: "We are supporting the family of a British national and are concerned by his detention.

"We condemn the exploitation of detainees for political purposes and have raised this with Russia.

“We are in constant contact with the government of Ukraine on their cases and are fully supportive of Ukraine in its efforts to get them released.”

---

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054