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Australian Oscar Jenkins has described surviving four days alone in a trench with a broken arm inside Russian territory and detailed why he joined Ukraine’s military, in his first interview from prison since being captured by Russian forces and jailed for 13 years.
The former teacher from Melbourne, captured in December 2024 while serving in Ukraine’s military, is seen wearing a green prison uniform and makes an extraordinary offer to now fight for Russia, in an interview first reported by the ABC.
The former cricket coach was found guilty of acting as “a mercenary in an armed conflict” by a court in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
“I had water, I had a backpack in position […] That happened again, the weather sort of cleared up, the next night I worked up the courage to move a little bit forward, there’s a lot of snow in this area – and then I changed my mind, there’s nothing I can see here, it all feels very dangerous,” he said.
“There were drones – a drone dropped a grenade. Broken arm here, problem with the left leg, moved back into the same hole, waited another two days […] not much sleep, but there was food and water for me.”
Jenkins was later captured by three Russian soldiers after being approached by a man asking if he needed help. He was filmed after his capture, bound and subjected to harsh interrogation by Russian officials.
Jenkins, a former biology teacher in China, said his decision to travel to Ukraine was spurred by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
“It felt like the right thing to do if a country invades another country, why, and if there’s not a good reason for that – like Taiwan – then that’s something I should stand up for,” Jenkins said.
“I’m a young guy. It’s not that my life doesn’t mean anything to me, but sacrifices might need to be made. That’s still the attitude I have.”
During the interview, Jenkins made the stunning revelation that he had appealed to Russian authorities to allow him to enlist in the Russian military if provided the opportunity.
“I’ve written a statement saying I’d be happy to fight as a soldier for Russia. But if they don’t trust me for whatever reason or don’t want me then I can understand,” he said.
Australian Mark Lowe, who has lived in Russia for four years, conducted the interview inside the Russian maximum-security prison over two days, according to the ABC.
Lowe told the ABC he had made attempts to interview Jenkins for over a year and used relationships he had with government officials to secure the interview for an upcoming documentary.
The ABC said it had been unable to independently verify the circumstances under which the interview was conducted, nor Lowe’s claims that there were no conditions or pressure from Russian authorities.
However, it acknowledged that Lowe runs a website that reports sympathetically on Russia and the Putin regime.
Jenkins was sentenced to 13 years in prison in May 2025 after he was convicted of participating in an armed conflict as a mercenary alongside Ukrainian forces.
In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the Australian government was “appalled” by the “sham trial” and sentence given to Jenkins.
The Albanese government has since repeatedly called for Jenkins to be treated as a prisoner of war and afforded protections.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last year his government would continue to make representations to the “reprehensible regime” of Russian President Vladimir Putin on behalf of Jenkins.
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