Overview
- The interview, which was first reported on Sunday, August 30, 2026, is Jenkins’s first on-record account from a Russian-controlled maximum-security prison in Luhansk.
- Jenkins says he left Australia in early 2024, travelled via Poland to volunteer with Ukrainian forces, and had no prior military background.
- He describes being wounded by a drone-dropped grenade, spending four days in a trench with a broken arm and leg, and being captured in December 2024 after approaching a man who led him to three soldiers.
- Jenkins told the interviewer he has written a statement saying he would be willing to fight for Russia if allowed, while the interviewer, Mark Lowe, says no conditions were imposed but the ABC could not independently verify the interview's freedom.
- Australia calls the May 2025 Luhansk conviction a 'sham trial' and demands prisoner-of-war protections, and Kremlin-aligned commentators have suggested a prisoner swap as a possible route to his release though no deal has been reported.