A Cambridgeshire aid worker, who went to Ukraine “to try and make a difference”, has reportedly been charged with being a mercenary and could face the death penalty.

Dylan Healy, a 22-year-old chef from Huntingdon, is one of two men to have been charged with "mercenary activities", according to Russian state media.

A pro-Kremlin website said Mr Healy and military volunteer Andrew Hill would face the same mercenary charges as Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, two British military volunteers captured in Mariupol, who have been condemned to death in Donetsk.

Mr Healey went missing in Ukraine, along with 45-year-old Paul Urey, in April.

Both were part of a UK non-profit humanitarian organisation named Presidium Network.

The men were reported to have been captured by the Russian military, after being stopped and seized at a military checkpoint south of Zaporizhzhia, in south-eastern Ukraine.

They had been attempting to help a mother and her children flee the region.

Allan Moore, a friend of Mr Healy for three years, told ITV Anglia last month that he was shocked by the arrests.

Mr Moore told ITV Anglia at the time: "I'm still in the back of my mind thinking this a joke and he's going to be alright, but at the same time, seeing the way Putin and some of the ways Russia has dealt with people already, it's quite inhumane".

Mr Moore used to play football with Mr Healy for Huntingdon Rangers Sunday League team.

He believes his friend went to Ukraine "to try and help and make a difference".

Russian state media is reporting that both men were refusing to co-operate with investigators.

It also inferred that Mr Healy and Mr Hill would face the same mercenary charges as Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner.

Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner were condemned to death in Donetsk, after the British military volunteers were captured in Mariupol.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), intervened on Thursday (June 30), and indicated to Moscow that it should ensure the death penalty was not carried out in this case.

Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner were living in Ukraine before the invasion and the UK Government has insisted that, as legitimate members of the Ukrainian armed forces, they should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.