Simeon Boikov has been variously described as a misinformation spreader, serial pest and Russian pawn.
But he may prove a "useful idiot" for the Australian government in securing the freedom of captured Melbourne man Oscar Jenkins.
Mr Boikov has been holed up in the Russian consulate in Sydney's eastern suburbs since December 2022, after being charged with assaulting an elderly man at a pro-Ukraine protest in Sydney's CBD.
The self-styled "Aussie Cossack" maintains his innocence, arguing he was acting in self defence, but says he would happily leave the country and forfeit his Australian citizenship as part of a prisoner swap deal to secure Mr Jenkins' release.
A consistent thorn in the government's side through his vocal opposition to COVID-19 restrictions and constant barracking for the Putin regime, Mr Boikov promised to stop his online rabble-rousing if returned to Russia.
"I would withdraw from politics. I would not have any sort of involvement on campaigning or media influence into the upcoming federal election," he told AAP.
"That would probably be very, very attractive for the Australian government."
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham was receptive to a potential prisoner swap involving Mr Boikov.
"If he potentially proves himself to be, shall I say, a useful idiot in terms of a possibility for a Christmas swap, well that is something for the government to consider as it looks at ways to potentially bring an Australian free and break him from Russian custody," Senator Birmingham told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
In a video posted to Russian social media on Sunday, Mr Jenkins is repeatedly slapped and interrogated by a Russian-speaking man assumed to be his captor.
The man asks Mr Jenkins how he came to be in Kramatorsk, a town 700km east of Kyiv in the Donbas region, near the Russian-Ukrainian frontline.
Standing in a forest and dressed in army fatigues, Mr Jenkins tells the man he wanted to help Ukraine.
The footage was disturbing, Senator Birmingham said.
"Obviously, all Australians would want to see and have confidence that this Australian citizen is going to be treated humanely, fairly, in accordance with the type of rules that should apply to prisoners of war," he said.
Parading prisoners of war on social media is a breach of the Geneva Conventions, which dictate that they must at all times be protected against insults and public curiosity.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese brushed off a question about a prisoner swap but said the government had called in the Russian ambassador to make representations on Mr Jenkins' behalf.
"Our Australian Embassy in Moscow is also making representations to secure a positive outcome," he told reporters.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was yet to determine his whereabouts but was first made aware of concerns for Mr Jenkins' wellbeing in November, the ABC reported.
People close to the 32-year-old have not known his whereabouts for months.
While Mr Jenkins is believed to be the first Australian captured while fighting against Russia in Ukraine, at least seven Australians have died in the conflict.
Mr Albanese and Nationals leader David Littleproud implored Australians not to go over.
"This isn't some great adventure," Mr Littleproud told Nine's Today Show.
"I had to bring back the remains of a young man from my own electorate, Jed Danahay, who was over there as a medic helping Ukrainians in the war zone and was tragically killed.
"I never forget the look and the anguish and the pain in his mother's eyes when I handed back his ashes to her."
