A British national fighting for Ukraine was reportedly captured by Russian forces in the Kursk region.
In a video posted on the pro-war Russian Telegram channel on Sunday, the man in combat fatigues identifies himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, a 22-year-old British national.
The man, who speaks with an English accent, said he served as a correspondent in the British army until 2023, before joining Ukraine's International Corps to fight Russia.
Although it is unidentified in the footage, the captured man's hands are seen tied. It is unknown when this clip was recorded.
Since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for foreigners to join the fight in February 2022, thousands of people from around the world have visited Ukraine. Many have joined forces such as the International Forces, known as the most selective group of foreigners and operating as part of the military units within Ukraine's ground forces.
Yuri Podlyaka, a popular pro-Kremlin military blogger, wrote on Telegram that Anderson was captured near the village of Prekhovo in Russia's Kursk region.
Russia typically maintains that captured foreign fighters are mercenaries and have no right to protection as prisoners of war under international law.
The Foreign Office said: “We have received reports of the detention of a British man and are supporting his family.”
The Ministry of Defense is declining to comment at this stage.
Russian forces have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region since August 6, with Kiev surprising Moscow with the largest foreign attack on Russian territory since World War II, covering an area of more than 1,300 square kilometers. Captured 100 villages.
Reuters reported on Sunday that Ukraine had lost more than 40% of the territory it initially captured in the Kursk region as Russian forces, backed by 11,000 North Korean troops, launched a series of counterattacks.
In the summer of 2022, a show trial in a court in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine resulted in death sentences for two British nationals who were captured in action as Ukrainian marines in Mariupol.
The men were later released as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine brokered by Saudi Arabia.
