London: An Australian soldier fighting as part of Ukraine’s foreign legion has been captured by Russian forces in the Donbas region and paraded on social media as a Western mercenary.
Footage of 32-year-old Melbourne man Oscar Jenkins, with his hands tied, was circulated on social media platform Telegram on Sunday. The footage shows Jenkins being slapped across the face by a man speaking in Russian.
Oscar Jenkins, a former Melbourne Grammar student, was captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine’s foreign legion in the Donbas region. Credit: Telegram
Jenkins, speaking in both English and broken Ukrainian, gave his name and age, and said he was a biology teacher who had joined the armed forces because he wanted to help Ukraine.
Dressed in military camouflage clothing with dirt on his face, Jenkins underwent rapid-fire questioning from his captor about why he was in Kramatorsk, almost 700 kilometres east of Kyiv, and if he was being paid to fight.
“Where are you from?” said his captor in the video, a version of which was circulated with English subtitles. A confused Jenkins was then slapped across the face when he did not understand.
When asked his nationality, he replied
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