MOSCOW: An Australian man will stand trial on mercenary charges in Russian-occupied Lugansk, the eastern region’s Moscow-installed authorities said on Friday, the latest foreign soldier fighting for Ukraine to appear before the court.
“The Prosecutor’s Office of the Lugansk People’s Republic approved the indictment in the criminal case against 33-year-old citizen of the Commonwealth of Australia Oscar Charles Augustus Jenkins,” the authorities said in a statement.
According to the investigators, Jenkins came to Ukraine in February 2024 from Melbourne and then fought against the Russian army between March and December 2024, for which he was paid around $7,000-9,000 a month.
Russia and its eastern Ukraine proxies typically consider foreigners traveling to fight in Ukraine as “mercenaries.”
This enables them to prosecute fighters under its criminal code, rather than treating them as captured prisoners of war with protections and rights under the Geneva Convention.
Most recently British man James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, was charged with terrorism after he was caught in the Kursk region fighting on Ukraine’s side.
Australian to stand trial in Russian-occupied Ukraine on mercenary charges
https://arab.news/9sgaq
Australian to stand trial in Russian-occupied Ukraine on mercenary charges
- Jenkins came to Ukraine in February 2024 from Melbourne
- Then fought against the Russian army between March and December 2024
Cross-border clash breaks out between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid rising tensions
- Border residents say exchange of fire in the Chaman border sector lasted nearly two hours
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan witnessed yet another border clash, according to officials in both countries who spoke in the early hours of Saturday, with each side accusing the other of launching “unprovoked” attacks.
Fighting erupted in Pakistan’s southwestern Chaman border sector, with an AFP report saying that residents on the Afghan side of the frontier reported the exchange of fire began at around 10:30 p.m. (1800 GMT) and continued for roughly two hours.
The incident underscored how tensions remain high between the neighbors, who have seen deadly clashes in recent months despite several rounds of negotiations mediated by Qatar and Türkiye that resulted in a tenuous truce in October.
“There has been unprovoked firing by Afghan Taliban elements in the Chaman Sector which is a reckless act that undermines border stability and regional peace,” said a Pakistani security official on condition of anonymity.
“Pakistani troops responded with precision, reinforcing that any violation of our territorial integrity will be met with immediate and decisive action,” he continued.
The official described Pakistan’s response as “proportionate and calibrated” that showed “professionalism even in the face of aggression.”
“The Chaman Sector exchange once again highlights the need for Kabul to rein in undisciplined border elements whose actions are destabilizing Afghanistan’s own international standing,” he added.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have grown increasingly bitter since the Taliban seized power in Kabul following the withdrawal of international forces in August 2021.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban administration of sheltering anti-Pakistan militant groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which have carried out deadly attacks in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan, targeting civilians and security forces.
The Taliban deny the charge, saying Pakistan’s internal security challenges are its own responsibility.
The Pakistani security official said his country remained “committed to peaceful coexistence, but peace cannot be one-sided.”
“Attempts to pressure Pakistan through kinetic adventurism have repeatedly failed and will continue to fail,” he said. “The Chaman response has reaffirmed that message unmistakably.”
He added that Pakistan’s security forces were fully vigilant and that responsibility for any escalation “would solely rest with those who initiated unprovoked fire.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, also commented on the clashes in a social media post, saying the Afghan Taliban had “resorted to unprovoked firing along the border.”
“An immediate, befitting and intense response has been given by our armed forces,” he wrote.
Afghan authorities, however, blamed Pakistan for the hostilities.
Border clashes that began in October have killed dozens of people on both sides.
The latest incident comes amid reports of back-channel discussions between the two governments, although neither has publicly acknowledged such talks.
