New video appears to show Oscar Jenkins alive in Russian captivity

The video appears to show the Australian appearing weak and injured — after mixed reports about his fate — following his capture while fighting for Ukraine | WATCH

Unverified still images from a video of Australian Oscar Jenkins.

The Albanese government has demanded Moscow release Oscar Jenkins after a video was posted online showing the Australian in Russian captivity following his capture while fighting for Ukraine.

The unverified video shows a weak and injured Mr Jenkins dressed in army fatigues and a beanie being interviewed by a Russian captor.

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

The footage emerged as New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, following a similar commitment by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong declined to say whether Australia was also prepared to commit troops to support a peace settlement.

The video of Mr Jenkins was posted three weeks after Russia told Australian officials that the Melbourne man was alive, not dead as previously feared.

The person recording the footage says in English that Mr Jenkins is a prisoner of war from Ukraine’s 66th Mechanised Brigade. “Tell us about your health condition, about your mood – are you OK?” he asks Mr Jenkins.

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

Anthony Albanese said the government still held serious concerns for Mr Jenkins’ welfare.

“We have called for Russia to release Mr Jenkins so that he can come home to his family,” the Prime Minister said.

“We’ve made it clear to Russia that Mr Jenkins is a prisoner of war and that there are obligations that kick in, in accordance with international humanitarian law, and they must be observed.”

Senator Wong refused to say whether the government would agree to a prisoner swap to secure his release, arguing she did not want to undermine his prospects of returning home.

“The way I approach all of these consular matters is to engage in a strategy that we believe and that I believe is most likely to maximise eventual success, which is what we want,” she said.

Ukraine’s top diplomat in Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said he was relieved to see that Mr Jenkins was alive, and he hoped to meet him when he returned to Australia.

“I’d like to thank him for his courage to come and fight for Ukraine,” he said.

“He is an example of that Anzac spirit of somebody who just couldn’t sit on his couch and decided to come and contribute personally. I think that’s really commendable.”

Mr Luxon told local media on Tuesday that New Zealand stood with Ukraine and could join a peacekeeping force there.

“That is something we’d be open to, but obviously it’s speculative at this point,” he said. “But we do support a lot of peacekeeping missions around the world.”

His comments came as European leaders scrambled to deal themselves back into talks on Ukraine’s future, after they were sidelined by US President Donald Trump. French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday local time, as US officials travelled to Saudi Arabia for direct talks with Russia on ending the war.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would not accept any agreement reached without his country’s input.