captured a British mercenary fighting alongside the Ukrainian army in Russia’s Kursk region, part of which Kiev controls, a security source told Russia’s RIA news agency.
“A mercenary from Great Britain, named James Scott Rees Anderson, was captured. Now he is giving us evidence,” the source added to RIA.
In a video posted on Russian Telegram channels yesterday, Sunday, a young bearded man, wearing a military uniform and appearing to have his hands tied behind his back, states in English that his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson and that he formerly served in the British Army.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the video, nor has the RIA reports. The British Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
It is not clear when the video was recorded.
Earlier, the BBC reported that the Foreign Office announced it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.
Ukrainian forces, which stormed Russia’s Kursk region in August, still control parts of it. But Kiev pointed out over the weekend that it has lost more than 40% of the territory it had seized as the Russians launched a series of counter-attacks.
*Source: APE-MPE
