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Russia has sentenced an Australian citizen to 13 years in a maximum-security prison for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, state prosecutors in a part of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia say.
Oscar Jenkins, a 33-year-old man from Melbourne, was convicted of being a “mercenary in an armed conflict” and sentenced to 13 years “in a strict regime penal colony” by a Russian-controlled court in Ukraine’s east Lugansk region.
The court had ruled he had taken part in combat operations against Russian troops between March and December 2024.
Russia and its eastern Ukrainian proxies consider foreigners travelling to fight in Ukraine as “mercenaries”.
This enables them to prosecute them under its criminal code, rather than treating them as captured prisoners of war with protections and rights under the Geneva Convention.
Russia-installed prosecutors said Jenkins “took part in combat operations against Russian military personnel between March and December 2024”.
They posted a video showing Jenkins standing in a court room behind a glass cage, his hands behind his back and his expression despondent.
Russian forces captured Jenkins in December 2024.
Ukrainian ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko has previously said his government added Jenkins to its list of prisoners of war and would negotiate for his release in an exchange. Source: AAP / Supplied
, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “We certainly have not.”
“[Australia will] continue to make representations to the reprehensible regime of Vladimir Putin on behalf of Mr Jenkins,” he said.
He said Australia remained committed to Ukraine’s fight “for the international rule of law” and reaffirmed that his government would consider sending troops to support a Europe-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
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