Australia is working to confirm the authenticity of a video that purportedly reveals one among its nationals captured by Russian forces whereas preventing in Ukraine.
The video, posted to Russian Telegram accounts, reveals a person with a muddied face being questioned in a forested space by one other man talking Russian, who seems to hit him twice throughout the top.
The man, whose arms seem like tightly sure with silver tape, identifies himself on digicam as 32-year-old Oscar Jenkins and says he lives in Australia and Ukraine.
When requested concerning the experiences of a Melbourne man captured by Russia, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese instructed reporters Monday the federal government was in search of info by means of the Australian embassy in Moscow.
“This is regarding information, and we’re working by means of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to offer help, together with, for this gentleman, attempting to establish the small print and the details that are there,” Albanese stated.
“We know that the Russians usually put out info that isn’t proper,” he added. CNN has reached out to DFAT for additional remark.
In the video, which CNN has been unable to geolocate, Jenkins seems to have hassle understanding questions put to him in Russian. It will not be clear whether or not he was talking below duress.
He is requested why he’s in Ukraine, to which he responds: “A soldier.”
Speaking in a mixture of English, Ukrainian and Russian, he says he’s a instructor in China and a scholar in Australia.
Embassy reopens
A LinkedIn profile below the identify Oscar Jenkins suggests he was a scholar at Melbourne Grammar School earlier than finding out biomedical sciences at Monash University in Melbourne. CNN has reached out to each the varsity and college however has not acquired a response.
The profile additionally lists locations of employment in China for a number of years from October 2015, together with as a college lecturer in Tianjin. CNN has reached out to a number of employers listed.
Australia has lengthy supported Ukraine in its battle in opposition to Russian forces, contributing greater than 1.5 billion Australian {dollars} ($930 million) because the invasion started in February 2022.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was in Ukraine final week to announce the reopening of the Australian embassy in Kyiv forward of the ambassador’s arrival subsequent month.
The embassy was closed by the earlier authorities in 2022 as a consequence of “elevated danger,” transferring quickly to Poland to keep away from Russian strikes.
Foreign fighters have joined the struggle effort on either side, as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unlawful struggle grinds on.
Last month, Russian state media reported {that a} 22-year-old British man had been taken prisoner whereas preventing for Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk area.
Russian state media outlet TASS named the person as James Scott Rhys Anderson, a former British soldier, citing a navy supply.
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