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Australian Oscar Jenkins Faces 15 Years in Russian Prison, Violating POW Protections
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![Amira_barkhush]( "Photo of Amira Barkhush")
Captured Australian fighter Oscar Jenkins has been formally charged by Russian authorities after taking up arms for Ukraine. A former schoolteacher from Victoria now faces up to 15 years in prison, 9News reported on April 19.
Australia’s Prime Minister said the government has not abandoned Jenkins, whose detention was first made public in December, four months before the charges were announced.
“They’re charging him as being a mercenary who he is not because he has an official contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, so he must be treated as a prisoner of war, but Russia does not really care about international law,” Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko told 9News.
“I wasn’t surprised because I’ve seen many other foreigners who got charged in Russia, including some of the journalists.”
On January 29, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that Jenkins was alive after previous reports of him stating he was killed while in Russian captivity.
On April 16, Novyny Donbas reported that a court in Russian-occupied Donetsk sentenced three Ukrainian prisoners of war to nearly 24 years in a penal colony.
-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
