The Russian military have captured a British national fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in Russia’s partially occupied Kursk region, state news agency Tass reported Monday, citing unidentified sources in law enforcement.
The man was identified by Tass and other media as James Scott Rhys Anderson. Tass quoted him as saying that he had served as a signalman in the British army for four years and then joined the International Legion of Ukraine, formed early on in Russia’s nearly 3-year-old war against its neighbor.
In Ukraine, Anderson reportedly served as an instructor for Ukrainian troops and was deployed to the Kursk region against his will. Tass published a video of the man saying in English that he doesn’t want to be “here.”
The report couldn’t be independently verified, but if confirmed it could be one of the first publicly known cases of a Western national captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine.
The U.K. Embassy in Moscow said officials were “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention” but provided no further details.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The soldier’s father, Scott Anderson, told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper that his son’s Ukrainian commander had informed him that the young man had been captured.
Scott Anderson said his son had served in the British military for four years, then briefly worked as a police custody officer before going to Ukraine to fight. He said he tried to convince his son not to join the Ukrainian military, and now he fears for his safety.
“I’m hoping he’ll be used as a bargaining chip, but my son told me they torture their prisoners and I’m so frightened he’ll be tortured,” he told the newspaper.
The U.K. Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.’’
The International Legion for Defense of Ukraine was created at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The Legion is a unit of Ukraine’s Ground Forces that consists mostly of foreign volunteers. Apart from the Legion, Ukraine recruits foreigners to other units of its army, filling squads, companies, or even battalions.
Early on in the war, Ukraine’s authorities said over 20,000 people from 52 countries came to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russia’s aggression. Ever since, the numbers of foreign fighters in the ranks of the Ukrainian military have been classified.
Overnight, Russian forces fired multiple drones at Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials.
Dozens of Iranian-made Shahed drones flew “at and through” the city of Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov. Drone explosions and falling debris damaged several residential houses in the city, injuring a 13-year-old, according to the official. Footage of the aftermath of the attack posted by Fedorov showed heavily wrecked houses with windows blown out and roofs pierced.