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An Australian man who was feared dead after being captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine is believed to be alive, the federal government says.
Oscar Jenkins, who was fighting for Ukraine’s foreign legion in its war against Russia, came to national attention in late December after video footage emerged that showed him being interrogated by Russian forces.
There were was dead after news reports emerged in mid-January that carried interviews with soldiers he served alongside who believed he had been killed.
But Russia’s ambassador to Australia has told officials Jenkins is alive and being detained by Russian Armed Forces after fighting for Ukraine.
On Wednesday afternoon, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the ABC the government had received confirmation Jenkins was alive and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) was seeking further confirmation about his welfare.
“I am reticent to confirm that is the case,” Albanese said when asked whether the government had been told Jenkins was alive and in Russian captivity. “But certainly that has been the statement made by Russian authorities through to our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials.”
Soon after, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said DFAT “had received confirmation that Oscar Jenkins is alive and in custody” and called on Russia to release him.
“We have made clear to Russia in Canberra and in Moscow that Mr Jenkins is a prisoner of war and Russia is obligated to treat him in accordance with international humanitarian law, including humane treatment,” Wong said in a statement.
“If Russia does not provide Mr Jenkins the protections he is entitled to under international humanitarian law, our response will be unequivocal.”
Wong said she had also spoken with her Ukrainian counterpart along with the International Committee of the Red Cross president.
DFAT is providing consular assistance to Jenkins’ family.
Ukraine’s embassy in Australia said Russia should provide “definitive video proof” that Jenkins is alive.
“It should release him rather than use him as a human bargaining chip for its authoritarian aims,” the embassy said in a statement.
Amid fears Jenkins had been killed, some Opposition politicians had called for the Russian ambassador to Australia, Alexey Pavlovsky, to be expelled.
But the government resisted doing so, saying it was better to keep channels of communication open.
Who is Oscar Jenkins?
Jenkins was the first Australian combatant reportedly captured by Russian forces and his death would have marked the first for an Australian prisoner of war in more than 70 years.
Russia has said foreign citizens fighting for Ukraine will be prosecuted as mercenaries and face up to 15 years in jail, which would contravene international law.
In the social media video circulated last month, Jenkins was shown speaking a mix of broken Russian and English.
“Live in Australia and Ukraine. I’m a teacher,” he said.
The man asked Jenkins in Russian how it was he came to be in Kramatorsk, a town 700km east of Kyiv in the Donbas region, near the Russian-Ukrainian frontline.
Standing in army fatigues in a forest, Jenkins tells the man he wanted to help Ukraine and had previously lived in China.
According to a LinkedIn profile matching Jenkins’ details, he attended Melbourne Grammar School before working for seven years as a university lecturer in Tianjin, China.
Jenkins was deeply involved with the Toorak Prahran Cricket Club in Melbourne, winning a senior premiership with the club in 2013-14 and serving as a junior coach for three seasons, his LinkedIn profile stated.
With the Australian Associated Press.
