Australian citizen Oscar Jenkins, who fought for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, is in Russian captivity, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced.
“The Australian government has received confirmation from Russia that Oscar Jenkins is alive and in custody,” The Guardian quoted Wong as saying.
She emphasized that Australia has “serious concerns” about Jenkins’s fate and has made it clear to Moscow that he must be treated in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Wong also called on Russia to release him. “If Russia does not provide Mr. Jenkins the protections he is entitled to under international humanitarian law, our response will be unequivocal,” she said.
Details about the circumstances of Jenkins’s capture and his conditions in detention remain scarce, The Guardian reported. According to Russian authorities, he is being held in Russia, and his health is described as “normal.”
In December, Russian “war correspondent” Alexander Sladkov published a video showing Russian soldiers speaking with Jenkins and striking him several times. He was presumably captured near Kramatorsk, Ukraine.
For a month, Australian authorities sought to confirm Jenkins’s whereabouts. In mid-January, ABC Television, citing other foreign fighters serving with Ukrainian forces, reported that he may have been killed.
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