A former Melbourne schoolteacher caught fighting as part of Ukraine’s Foreign Legion has become the butt of cruel jokes as he languishes in a Russian jail.
Biology teacher Oscar Jenkins, 32, is a vegan former Melbourne grammar student who traveled to Ukraine to join their war effort.
In a disturbing video uploaded to the social media platform Telegram, his captors saw Jenkins tied up and forced to his knees.
News of his plight spread across social media like wildfire, with many Russians mocking the Australian POW.
‘So, a teacher? “He came to teach the Russians a lesson, but apparently something went wrong,” one person posted on Reddit.
‘I hate it when I get lost and end up on the front lines in Ukraine dressed in a soldier’s uniform with a gun in my hand. It’s so annoying I can’t help it!’ another stated.
Meanwhile, the pro-Putin activist known as Aussie Cossack thanked the Russian military for capturing Jenkins, suggesting he can be used as collateral.
Simeon Boikov, who has taken refuge in the Russian embassy in Sydney for the past two years, happily joined Jenkins’ group.
A former Melbourne schoolteacher caught fighting as part of Ukraine’s Foreign Legion has been paraded on camera by Russian soldiers.
“Now we finally have an Australian prisoner,” Boikov posted.
“The only way Oscar Jenkins is going to avoid 35 years in a Gulag is if the Australian government agrees to a prisoner exchange deal and, guess what, I will run voluntarily,” he said.
‘It’s literally been two years and finally… I think, I hope, I can get to Russia. Let’s make an Albanese deal, let’s get Oscar Jenkins back.
Speaking in a mix of broken English and Ukrainian, Jenkins was slapped in the face by his captor while being asked questions on camera.
‘Where are you from?’ the soldier asked him.
Unable to understand, Mr Jenkins looked confused before his captor slapped him.
“Fuck the fastest speaker,” the Russian said.
When asked his nationality, Mr Jenkins replied: “I’m Australian.”
Oscar Jenkins ends his career in China in 2017. The post is now full of troll comments
Mr Jenkins is a passionate vegan. His LinkedIn profile photo asks people to “destroy evil” and “be good”
Biology teacher Oscar Jenkins, 32, is a former Melbourne grammar student who traveled to Ukraine to join its war effort.
Dressed in military gear and with dirt smeared on his face, Jenkins was repeatedly asked why he was in Kramatorsk, nearly 700 kilometers east of kyiv.
The Russian soldier demanded to know if Ukraine was paying Mr Jenkins to wage war on their behalf.
According to the Russian penal code, “mercenarism” can lead to up to 15 years in prison.
Boikov urged the Australian government to bring Jenkins home.
“He went to Melbourne Grammar School, he went to Monash University, he’s from Melbourne, he’s from Victoria, we should bring him home,” he said.
“He shouldn’t have been in Ukraine, but he won’t be killed, he won’t be tortured, he will be put on a prisoner exchange list and in Australia we can do that.” Let’s do this.’
Boikov, who has an arrest warrant issued for the assault of a 76-year-old man at a pro-Ukraine rally at Sydney Town Hall in 2022, said he had been in contact with his lawyer to try to make a deal with the federal government.
Boikov then raised his fist and said: ‘Glory to the Russian army, thank you very much for doing this and keeping it alive.’
“Keep him alive, don’t kill him, don’t torture him.”
Premier Anthony Albanese called the news of Jenkins’ capture “concerning”.
Mr Jenkins was a much-loved cricketer.
Mr. Jenkins had been considered a talented athlete.
In a disturbing video uploaded to social media platform Telegram, Jenkins is seen tied up and forced to his knees by his captors.
‘So our embassy in Moscow is functioning. But Foreign Affairs and Trade also work here,” he stated.
‘We always look after Australians. That is the job of the Australian government: to represent Australian citizens.
The Kremlin is reportedly handling nearly 600 criminal cases against foreign fighters, mostly citizens of the United States, Georgia, Britain, Canada, Lithuania and Latvia.
Dozens of Australians are believed to be fighting on the front lines of Ukraine’s war against Russia, but the federal government has been unable to provide figures.
‘My name is Oscar Jenkins… 32 years old. Living in Australia and Ukraine,” Jenkins said.
It was later confirmed that Mr. Jenkins was Alumnus of Melbourne Grammar, one of Victoria’s most prestigious schools.
He graduated in 2010, studied biomedical sciences at Monash University and moved to China in 2015, he reported.
Since 2017 he has worked as a professor at Tianjin College.
It is unclear when he left China or how long he has been fighting with Ukrainian forces on the front lines.
A YouTube video in which Jenkins rants about being vegan has been inundated with comments from trolls.
A passionate vegan, he uploaded a single video to his YouTube channel last year titled: “I will force Chinese to be vegan.”
“The only people who are my friends are vegans anyway,” Jenkins said in the video.
‘If you’re not vegan and you’re my friend, then you’re going to be vegan soon or we’re going to fight… and my mom, I’m still talking to my mom.
‘Otherwise, it is quite limited. “There is some help from outside, from the family that wants to do things.”
On Monday, more than 2,600 people appeared on the video to ridicule Mr. Jenkins’ new life.
“From vegan to meat grinder,” one person commented.
“We should all thank the Russians for saving the Chinese from being forced to be vegan,” wrote another.
The pro-Putin activist known as Aussie Cossack thanked the Russian military for capturing Jenkins.
Meanwhile, in Australia, friends of Mr Jenkins have described him as a good person, an intelligent and well-liked classmate and a “great sportsman” who represented the first XI cricket team and the first XVII football team.
Mr Jenkins’ LinkedIn profile lists him as a former member of the Toorak-Prahran Cricket Club.
Club president Neil Gumley said Jenkins was the typical cricket-loving Australian you would want in any team.
Gumley said Jenkins, who hit three and bowled the first drop, had played in the flag-winning senior men’s team in 2013/14.
“He’s a typical Australian cricketer,” Gumley told the Herald Sun.
“He is very loved at the club. You would want him on any team.
Another colleague claimed that Jenkins had become “a little withdrawn” since moving to China and had recently deleted much of his social media.
Footage of the interrogation was first shared by Alexander Sladkov, a Russian propagandist and military correspondent for the Russia 1 and Russia 24 television channels.
He said the Australian would now face trial and prison, while adding that the Russians were actively seeking foreign fighters, potentially to secure prisoner swaps.
He said Ukrainian units were listed as targets if a foreign language was heard in the radio intercept.
When his interrogator asked him how he was paid, Jenkins said he was paid Ukrainian hryvnia into an account at PrivatBank, the country’s largest bank.
According to the International Legion recruiting website, monthly salaries correspond to the salaries of enlisted soldiers in regular Ukrainian units, ranging from approximately $600 per month for rear troops to $3,300 per month while on deployment. fighting.
At least eight Australians have died since Vladimir Putin’s troops launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, including Victorian Joel Benjamin Stremski and Queenslanders Brock Greenwood and Matthew Jepson, who died while holding off troops. Russians in the east of the country in October.
However, Jenkins is the first Australian known to have been captured by Russian or Russian-aligned forces.