Oscar Jenkins: Friends of Australian teacher captured by Russian forces say he has a ‘big heart’

Friends of an Australian man believed to have been captured by Russian forces in Ukraine have expressed grave concerns for his wellbeing after a “disturbing” video was circulated on social media.

With fear in his eyes and his wrists bound, a mud-covered Oscar Jenkins, a former Melbourne Grammar student, features in a horrifying video showing him being interrogated and beaten by two men claiming to be Russian soldiers.

The video began circulating on a pro-Russian Telegram channel on Sunday.

As he is hit across the face, Mr Jenkins says: “I’m Australian,” blinking at the camera.

“Well, go on, f***. Who the f*** are you?” on of the Russians demands. “Name.”

Shifting between English and tentative Russian, the Australian answers: “Oscar... my name is Oscar. Oscar Jenkins. 32-years-old. I live in Australia and Ukraine,” adding that he is a teacher.

“You’re a teacher. What are you doing here?” the Russian replies. Here is Kramatorsk, almost 700 kilometres east of Kyiv, in the thick of the Ukraine battlegrounds.

“I’m a soldier,” Mr Jenkins replies. A gloved hand juts out from behind the camera and hits the Australian over the head again.

Mr Jenkins is not the first Australian to make his way onto the front lines in Ukraine, but he could be the first Australian combatant captured by Russian forces in the under siege country.

Who is Oscar Jenkins

Mr Jenkins was once a student at a prestigious Melbourne high school, a talented athlete, a biology student, and a university lecturer.

The 32-year-old graduated from the elite Melbourne Grammar School in 2010 before studying at Monash University. He then moved to China to study biology in 2015 and, according to LinkedIn, he has been a university lecturer for seven years.

An old friend described Mr Jenkins to The Herald Sun as a well-liked guy and a talented athlete with a “big heart”.

“I think we’re all a bit shocked to see what has happened to Oscar in Ukraine,” the friend said.

“It’s awful to see an old school friend being held prisoner, seeing him in military clothing being detained is really disturbing.”

The friend said his Australian friends had heard nothing from him since he left the country; but that they did not know what could have prompted him to leave China to fight in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian security source told News Corp Australia’s NewsWire that Mr Jenkins was fighting as part of the International Legion of Defence of Ukraine, a loose coalition of ex-soldiers and volunteer fighters drawn from other nations that was established shortly after Russia’s invasion.

Mr Jenkins reportedly returned to Australia in February this year for the 10-year reunion of his premiership-winning team Toorak Prahran Cricket Club.

President Neil Gumley described the top-order batsman was in “good spirits” and gave no indication he was about to head into a war zone.

Mr Jenkins’ school friend said their thoughts were particularly with his family with the footage emerging so close to Christmas, and hoped their old schoolmate could “get to safety as soon as possible”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s response

The disturbing footage has sent authorities scrambling to get support for the 32-year-old.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the embassy in Moscow were investigating the “concerning” footage.

He said the government would make “appropriate representations”.

“We always look after Australians,” he said.

“That’s the job of an Australian government — to make representations for Australian citizens.”

‘Now we have an Australian prisoner, finally’: Russia celebrates

Pro-Russian supporters have taken glee in Mr Jenkins’s apparent capture, with one of the most infamous pro-Putin activist thanking the military for ensnaring Mr Jenkins.

Simeon Boikov, known as the Aussie Cossack on his own Telegram channel, said the capture was “excellent news” and urged the Russian military to use the biology teacher so they could do a prisoner swap deal.

Boikov has taken refuge inside the Russian embassy in Sydney for the past two years and offered himself up as the swap for the “Australian mercenary”.

“Now we have an Australian prisoner, finally,’’ Boikov posted.

He said though the Russian militants had clearly been “hitting him a little bit” in the video, they would keep him alive “because we need him”.

“We can do a prisoner exchange deal,” Boikov said.

“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’m volunteering my candidacy....’’

“Literally it’s been two years and finally ... I think, I hope, I’m going to make it to Russia. Let’s do a deal Albanese, let’s get your Oscar Jenkins back...

“Glory to the Russian military, thank you very much for doing this and keeping him alive. Keep him alive, don’t kill him, don’t torture him.’’

Mr Boikov said he had been in contact with his lawyer to attempt to make an arrangement with the federal government.

The pro-Putin activist holed up in the Sydney consulate after a warrant issued for his arrest over the assault of a 76-year-old man at a rally in support of Ukraine at Sydney’s Town Hall in 2022.