Russia has charged captured Australian Oscar Jenkins, who fought on the side of Ukraine as a volunteer.
This is reported by the Australian broadcaster Nine News.
Jenkins is accused of being a mercenary. According to media reports, the prosecutorʼs office of occupied Luhansk claims that he fought against the Russian army from March to December 2024 and received from $11 000 to $15 000 per month for this. The volunteer faces 15 years in prison.
Ukraineʼs Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, rejected these accusations. He emphasized that the fighter has an official contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so international law applies to him. Accordingly, Jenkins should be treated as a prisoner of war.
“I wasn’t surprised, because I’ve seen many other foreigners charged in Russia, including some journalists. We hope and don’t lose hope that eventually we will be able to exchange him [Jenkins],” says Miroshnychenko.
Australia is also not giving up on its citizen and will continue to defend him, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
What preceded
Oscar Jenkins served in the 402nd Separate Rifle Battalion, part of the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Jenkins signed a contract to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine on April 4, 2024.
While performing a combat mission near Mykolaivka in the Luhansk region on December 16, 2024, he went missing. On the same day, his name was added to the lists of fighters held in Russian captivity.
In December 2024, Russian military propagandists released a video purporting to show Jenkins being interrogated and beaten.
In January, Australian broadcaster ABC and CNN affiliate Seven News, citing unnamed sources in Ukraine, reported that an Australian had likely been killed in Russian captivity. Australia summoned the Russian ambassador over the information. The Slidstvo.Info project later verified that a video showing the body of the alleged Australian prisoner turned out to be a four-year-old recording from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Russia later provided information about Jenkins through the Australian Foreign Ministry. According to the Russian ambassador, the captured Australian was in custody at the time and his health was described as normal.
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