Australian captured while fighting for Ukraine jailed for 13 years

By AFP
May 17, 2025
Australian man Oscar Jenkins captured by Russian forces last year. Luhansk People’s Republic Prosecutor’s Office/File
Australian man Oscar Jenkins captured by Russian forces last year. Luhansk People’s Republic Prosecutor’s Office/File 

MOSCOW: An Australian man captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine has been jailed for 13 years on the charge of being a “mercenary”, Russia-installed prosecutors said on Friday.

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. Russia and its eastern Ukrainian proxies consider foreigners travelling to fight in Ukraine as “mercenaries”.