Keneally urges government to prevent extremists joining Ukraine conflict

Kristina Keneally urges Morrison government to extend existing laws to prohibit extremists from joining the conflict in Ukraine

Deputy Labor Leader Kristina Keneally. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

Labor home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally has urged the Morrison government to prohibit extremists from joining the conflict in Ukraine, amid fears right-wing nationalists could pose a threat to national security upon their return to Australia.

A number of Australian extremists have previously gone to Ukraine to train and fight – especially during the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea – and there are growing fears more could join pro-Russian forces in the wake of the latest invasion.

As of Monday, no Australians had joined the conflict in Ukraine, but the Australian Federal Police and ASIO continued to monitor the situation.

The issue posed by foreign fighters came to national prominence after more than 100 Australians travelled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State. Security experts warned that extremists who ­received weapons training and gained military experience in the Middle East conflict could pose a security risk upon returning.

Senator Keneally said Labor would support the government designating parts of Ukraine as a declared area for foreign fighters to prevent extremists from joining Russian forces and making it a criminal offence to enter or stay in the designated regions.

“There are a small number of Australians who have travelled to Ukraine previously to join Russia-backed militias for paramilitary training,” Senator Keneally told The Australian.

“It is deeply concerning that some Australians – including those affiliated with ideologically motivated extremist groups – are today spreading Russian propaganda online and seeking to travel overseas to support Russia’s ­assault on Ukraine.”

It is understood Labor has used previous Senate estimates hearings and meetings of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security to ask whether it would consider extending the provisions to parts of Ukraine.

So far, the federal government has resisted these calls.

This is despite the Morrison government prohibiting Australians from returning home after leaving the country to fight in Syria and Iraq after Islamic State declared its caliphate. The orders could prevent Australians suspected of engaging in terrorism from legally returning to Australia for up to two years, or stop them ­obtaining a passport.

On Monday (AEDT), Mr ­Zelensky called on “all citizens of the world” to join Ukraine’s ­defence, as the Russian assault on the capital, Kyiv, and other cities intensified at the weekend. Known Russian sympathiser Simeon ­Boikov – a far-right nat­ionalist ­extremist known as “Aussie Cossack” – has used his Telegram channel to propagate pro-Kremlin propaganda.

Mr Boikov, who is believed to have fought with Russian-backed battalions against Ukrainians in previous conflicts in the country, has used his Telegram channel to rehash baseless Putin claims.

“The demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine has begun,” wrote Mr Boikov in a post titled “Putin’s checkmate”. “The Ukrainian army is surrendering en masse as Russia moves in.”

Russian loyalists led by Mr Boikov clashed with pro-Ukrain­ian protesters at the weekend outside the Russian consulate in Sydney.

In a video, Mr Boikov displays a flag with a Soviet hammer and sickle, which he said “was raised in 1945 on the 9th of May when the Russians defeated the Nazis, and today the Russians will defeat the Nazis again”.

“Any Ukrainians wishing to surrender to the Russian consulate please step forward,” he said, adding the protesters were “American lackeys”.

When asked whether the Morrison government would consider designating parts of Ukraine under the foreign fighter laws, a spokesman for Foreign Minister Marise Payne pointed to comments she made at a press conference earlier on Monday.

“Australians who travel to fight in Ukraine with a non-government armed group on either side of the conflict or who recruit someone else to do so may be ­committing a criminal offence,” she said.