Russians joke a ‘dead man wouldn’t have blood pressure’ in new Oscar Jenkins video

Another video of Australian prisoner of war Oscar Jenkins has emerged online showing his Russian captors making a cruel joke.

A new video has surfaced showing Oscar Jenkins having his blood pressure taken while his Russian examiners joke “a dead man wouldn’t have pressure”.

The Australian prisoner of war (POW) appears shirtless in the video, sitting in front of a Russian flag while two men provide a running commentary.

A new video has surfaced showing Oscar Jenkins having his blood pressure taken while his Russian examiners joke ‘a dead man wouldn’t have pressure’. Picture: NewsWire / Supplied

“One hundred and twenty-eight – his blood pressure is slightly risen,” one of the men says in Russian.

“We’ll do another one to double check.”

“A dead man wouldn’t have blood pressure, it’s logical, right?” the other quips.

The men also have trouble measuring Mr Jenkins’ pulse using an oximeter because his hands are too cold.

They eventually abandon it and return to the original blood pressure monitor.

“One hundred and twenty-six over 79 – normal pressure, it’s slightly high, heartbeat is 86,” one says.

“But on this one, the finger is too cold.

“It doesn’t show through but on this one it showed.”

Mr Jenkins’ examiners say his blood pressure is ‘normal’. Picture: NewsWire / Supplied

The video was sneakily uploaded to X on the same day another video was uploaded to YouTube showing Mr Jenkins alive.

Both were uploaded by accounts with the same name.

NewsWire has not been able to independently verify where or when either video was taken.

Reverse image searches have shown the videos were first uploaded on February 8, but in the other video, which shows Mr Jenkins being questioned in English, a man off-screen says the footage was shot on January 17.

The Albanese government on January 16 said Russian officials had confirmed he was alive.

Speculation around his fate has been rife since footage showing Russian troops interrogating him began circulating on pro-Kremlin social media channels on December 22.

Shortly after, the same accounts started sharing another clip showing dead soldiers stacked in the back of a truck, claiming Mr Jenkins was among them.

NewsWire independently confirmed the video was old, from a different conflict and had been altered.

But uncertainty intensified after reports that he had been killed – reports that Ukrainian security sources told NewsWire were baseless at the time.

The other video shows Mr Jenkins clean-faced, clad in green fatigues and donning a beanie.

It is a stark contrast to the dirt-caked face that made headlines after news broke of his capture.

“My name is Oscar Jenkins, I am Australian,” Mr Jenkins says in the video.

His questioner identifies Mr Jenkins as a POW from Ukraine’s 66th Mechanised Brigade.

NewsWire understands he was fighting as part of the brigade’s 402nd Rifle Battalion when he was captured near Makiivka, a tiny village on the Zherebets River in Luhansk Oblast.

“Tell us about your health condition, about your mood. Are you OK?” the man asks Mr Jenkins.

“I would like more freedom,” Mr Jenkins replies.

“I feel a bit weak, I’ve lost a lot of weight, I have a broken arm still, I think, and my hand is not good.”

“But you are alive,” the Russian interjects.

“So the information about your death is not right?”

“Correct,” Mr Jenkins says.

Mr Jenkins was taken prisoner by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine. Picture: NewsWire / Supplied

With evidence mounting that Mr Jenkins is alive, the focus now sits on securing his release.

The Albanese government has been stressing Mr Jenkins’ status as a legitimate combatant in the Russo-Ukrainian war to ensure Russia complies with internationally recognised rules of war.

The Kremlin has also long sought to delegitimise foreigners fighting in Ukraine by branding them mercenaries, who do not have a right to POW protections.

Any negotiations for the Melbourne-born man’s release will also play out against a decade-long backdrop of icy relations between Canberra and Moscow.

The Albanese government is working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to free Mr Jenkins.

The ICRC has access on the Russian side and has facilitated prisoner exchanges since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Originally published as Russians joke a ‘dead man wouldn’t have blood pressure’ in new Oscar Jenkins video