– I'm Australian… Oscar Jenkins, 32 lata. I live in Australia and Ukraine, said the captured man in a recording on the Telegram channel. Jenkins spoke English with a distinctive Australian accent, interjecting single words in Ukrainian. In the recording he introduced himself as: biology teacherwho wanted to help Ukraine. He said he lived nearby Kramatorskaa Ukrainian city in the Donetsk Oblast right on the front line. His identity was confirmed by the Sydney Morning Herald.
The recording shows a man from… face covered in mudin a military jacket with a hood. Interrogator they hit him face to face, while asking in Russian for his name and origin.
Australian Prime Minister cautious. Russians often provide false information
– We are investigating these reports – he admitted on Tuesday premier Anthony Albaneseadding that the Australian Embassy in Moscow tries to get all the details about the detainee. The Prime Minister refused to answer the question whether the government would consider it prisoner exchangesaying – We know that Russians often provide information that are not true.
Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General Australia Mark Dreyfus added that the government “called on Moscow to fully respect its commitments arising from international humanitarian law, including in relation to prisoners of war.
Russia is hunting for foreign volunteers
The Australian media recalled that Russia focuses on capturing foreign volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine, whom he presents as “mercenaries” without the right to protection, but useful for a potential prisoner exchange.
Volunteers from dozens of countries are fighting on the side of Ukraine, mostly in the ranks of the International Legion. In November last year, the Russians captured 22-year-old James Scott Rhys Anderson, a former British soldier fighting on the side of Ukraine in the Kursk Oblast in Russia. The recording of his interrogation was also posted on the Telegram channel.