Russia closed an Australian man to fight with Ukraine

Australian man who was captured by Russian forces while fighting with Ukraine was sentenced to 13 years in prison for maximum security, prosecutors said in Russian.

33-year-old Oscar Jenkins was sentenced to a Russian-controlled court in an occupied Eastern Ukraine on Friday to combat an armed conflict as a mercenary.

G -n Jenkins, a Melbourne teacher, was captured last December in the Luhansk region.

Prosecutors said he arrived in Ukraine in February 2024, claiming he was paid between 600,000 and 800,000 rubles (5504 pounds and £ 7,339) a month to participate in military operations against Russian troops.

Last December, a video appeared showing G -n Jenkins with hands tied, struck in the face and questioned by Russian forces. They ask him if he is paid to fight in Ukraine.

In January, Australia called the Russian ambassador for false reports that Jenkins had been killed after his capture.

Since then, the Australian government has repeatedly called for its release.

“We will continue to make representations about the reprimand regime of (Russian President) Vladimir Putin on behalf of G -N Jenkins,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told 9news in April.

In March, British husband James Scott Rhys Anderson was imprisoned for 19 years by a Russian military court after being charged with terrorism and rent, becoming the first British national condemned by Russia during the war.

The 22-year-old was captured last November in the Russian Kursk region where the Ukrainian forces began a surprising invasion last August before they retired in recent months.

Just before he launched a full -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized all Luhanski and Donetsk as independent of Ukraine. Russian power of attorney began rebellion there in 2014.