Moscow is looking into reports that the Russian army may have captured an Australian citizen fighting with Ukrainian forces, while a foreign affairs official noted Canberra's "hostile stance towards Russia" at a briefing.
Family and friends hold grave fears for Australian man Oscar Jenkins who was reportedly captured by Russian soldiers while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region.
During a weekly news briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed Australian diplomats had been in contact about the possible capture.
"Efforts are currently underway to verify reports of the captured Australian citizen," she said, according to Russian news agency TASS.
"We are monitoring the situation alongside the relevant agencies."
She noted: "the Australian political establishment’s hostile stance towards Russia".
"Canberra obediently follows in the footsteps of the collective West, which pursues a Russophobic policy," she said.
Australia has long condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and provided more than $1.5 billion in assistance to Kyiv since the full-scale conflict began in February 2022.
Australian officials have urged their Russian counterparts to adhere to humanitarian obligations in their treatment of the 32-year-old Melburnian.
In videos circulated on social media, a visibly bruised and shaken Mr Jenkins is interrogated and beaten by a Russian-speaking captor.
"Live in Australia and Ukraine. I'm a teacher," he says, mixing broken Russian and English.
The man asks Mr 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, Mr Jenkins tells the man he wanted to help Ukraine and had previously lived in China.
According to a LinkedIn profile matching Mr Jenkins' details, he attended Melbourne Grammar School before working for seven years as a university lecturer in Tianjin, China.
Mr Jenkins is the first Australian combatant reportedly captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Acting foreign affairs minister Mark Dreyfus has urged the Russian government to fully adhere to its obligations under international humanitarian law, including with respect to prisoners of war.
"Our immediate priority is understanding where Mr Jenkins is and confirming his wellbeing," he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular support to Mr Jenkins’ family.
"I reiterate the government’s clear advice to all Australians - do not travel to Ukraine," he said.
with Reuters
