‘There’s a twist to this story’: Aussie Cossack holds out hope for Jenkins as arrest looms
Wanted for assault and fearing a national security crackdown, ‘Aussie Cossack’ Simeon Boikov fears his hope for freedom has gone up in smoke with the unconfirmed execution of Oscar Jenkins.
Self-styled “Aussie Cossack” Simeon Boikov’s aspirations for freedom could be shattered as, withthe fate of Australian foreign fighter Oscar Jenkins remaining uncertain, he potentially approaches the end of his consular immunity and fears charges of foreign interference.
The pro-Putin mouthpiece told The Australian on Thursday he had received appeals from the Kremlin to stay out of the next federal election, in what he says is a rare instruction by a foreign government he is regularly accused of taking instruction from.
Mr Boikov leads the alt-right-aligned Australian Cossack Society, gaining notoriety for his opposition on social media to Covid lockdowns, vaccine mandates and Ukrainian sovereignty.
He has sought refuge in Sydney’s Russian consulate since 2023 to avoid an assault charge for which he was convicted in absentia.
Facing two outstanding warrants from NSW police, accusations of foreign interference and community appeals for both the closure of the Russian consulate and expulsion of its ambassador, Mr Boikov saw a prisoner swap of himself for Mr Jenkins as his best hope of freedom.
His first NSW arrest warrant was for violating the conditions of his bail for a 2022 breach of suppression order, while his assault charge was laid in December 2022 when he pushed a 76-year-old man down a set of stairs at a Sydney rally in support of Ukraine.
Unconfirmed reports that Mr Jenkins has been executed by his Russian captors have rocked Mr Boikov’s hope of leaving the consulate a free man.
He expressed scepticism that Mr Jenkins was dead, suggesting the reports were a Ukrainian fabrication to stir up anti-Russian sentiment among the Australian public and government.
“I think there’s a twist to this story,” he told The Australian. “(I have) no animosity against Jenkins, he just looks like a confused individual, a normal person from Melbourne.
“He went to Melbourne Grammar School, I went to Trinity Grammar School in Sydney.
“He played cricket, I played cricket.
“It’s very unsettling and unusual that the Australian government, the Ukrainian government, and the Russian government, have nothing to say and no one knows (if Mr Jenkins is alive) … it gives me hope when I read DFAT saying it’s unconfirmed; I interpret that as DFAT saying there is hope, and he’s possibly alive.”
Mr Boikov has previously appealed to Wagner mercenaries and Russian frontline forces to capture Australians fighting overseas in service of the Ukrainian Foreign Legion in order to secure himself a prisoner swap.
“It’s disappointing. There was some hope there for myself and poor Jenkins,” he said.
“I’ve displayed goodwill for Jenkins from the beginning … and probably I was the only person thinking that way on a pro-Russian angle, there is a lot of animosity towards Western mercenaries.
“I would suggest to Australians fighting, if you get captured, drop my name, say to the Russians ‘Exchange me for Aussie Cossack’ as you are being captured – you’ll have much higher chances because I’m well known on the Russian side.
“You’ll have stronger chances to live.”
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