Dad of British ex-soldier, 22, captured by Russian forces in Ukraine fears he’ll be ‘used as bargaining chip & tortured’
A British ex-soldier’s father fears that his son would be “tortured” in terrible jails after he was seized by Russian soldiers while fighting for Ukraine.
According to reports, 22-year-old James Scott Rhys Anderson was captured amid intense combat in the Kursk region of Russia.
His captors paraded the PoW in two different propaganda videos that were made public online today.
Scott Anderson, his father, expressed his “complete shock” but expressed the hope that his kid might be used as a “bargaining chip” instead.
He told the Daily Mail: “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.”
Anderson, dressed in green military garb, claimed to have served in the British Army from 2019 to 2023 prior to visiting Ukraine in a video that the Russians uploaded.
More on Russia-Ukraine war
He continues by telling interrogators that he served in 22 Signal Regiment as a private.
According to the inmate, he applied online to join Ukraine’s International Legion after leaving the Army.
“I had just lost everything,” he continues. I had recently lost my job.
“I watch it on television. It was a dumb notion.
His hands are bound in red tape in a second video, which is thought to have been recorded soon after he was apprehended.
His interrogator asks him how long he was in the British Army.
He responds, “I learn for one year and I stay for four years.”
Then, “Why you come in Russia?” the interrogator asks.
Anderson responds: “Commander take my s*** and tell me to come…I don’t want to be here.”
He was “in tears” after watching the two movies, according to Mr. Anderson.
The father disclosed that he pleaded with his son not to enlist in the military.
However, because “he thought what he was doing was right,” the gallant British citizen chose to back the Ukrainians.
“I was crying and in total shock when he called me and sent the video,” Mr. Anderson said.
“I knew right away that it was him. He appears alarmed, terrified, and anxious.
“I was against him leaving. My entire family attempted to convince him not to attend, even me.
“He believed he was acting morally, therefore he wanted to go out there. He was adamantly opposed to the treatment of the Ukrainian people.
The family is reportedly in contact with the Foreign Office.
Following allegations of a British man’s incarceration, we are providing help to his family, an FCDO spokesperson stated.
Geneva convention on PoWs
By foreign news reporter Sayan Bose
A body of international legislation known as the Geneva Conventions establishes the framework for humanitarian laws pertaining to both military and civilians in contemporary armed conflicts.
The following are the international regulations pertaining to prisoners of war (PoWs):
- Human treatment: PoWs must be treated humanely at all times, and protected from violence, intimidation, insults, and public curiosity.
- Medical care: PoWs must receive adequate medical care, and seriously ill or wounded PoWs must be repatriated immediately.
- Living conditions: PoWs must be housed in conditions similar to those of the detaining forces, and their living quarters must be hygienic and healthy. PoW camps must be located away from combat zones, and clearly marked with the letters “PW” or “PG”.
- Communication: PoWs must be able to communicate with the outside world, including by writing letters and sending messages. They can also send “capture cards” to their families and the ICRC to inform them of their whereabouts.
- Release: PoWs must be released and repatriated as soon as hostilities end.
- Prosecution: PoWs cannot be prosecuted for direct participation in hostilities, but they may be prosecuted for war crimes.
- Personal belongings: PoWs may not be deprived of their personal belongings.
- Identification: PoWs are only required to provide their name, rank, date of birth, and serial number.
Shaun Pinner, a former British PoW who was taken prisoner at the beginning of the conflict, stated last night that he faces a “very dangerous” 10-day period.
Before receiving a death sentence, the Russians also paraded 51-year-old Shaun, a former member of the Royal Anglian Regiment, on television.
Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea, mediated a prisoner swap arrangement that ultimately resulted in his release.
“Anything he says is under duress—we must remember that,” Shaun told The Sun.
“The more people that see the video, the more people will be aware that he is still alive, which will increase his chances.
“His safety is now the responsibility of someone.
However, it’s crucial that as little information as possible about his past be disclosed.
“Russia is hoping that the video would spark a wave of information that they can use to question people.
“Getting on TV was my job when I was captured. You want to be able to communicate to the world your health, appearance, and the person who has you.
“There’s no telling what has happened since then but this is a positive.”
Two British-born POWs who joined Ukrainian forces were given death sentences by Russia in a kangaroo court in 2022.
In what was widely believed to be a coerced confession, heroes Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, entered guilty pleas to receiving instruction with the intention of carrying out terrorist acts.
After being taken prisoner during the Russian siege of Mariupoland, Shaun was cruelly sentenced in Donetsk.
As part of a prisoner swap, the former British Army man was released in September 2022.
As part of the same prisoner release agreement in September 2022, Aiden was also freed after being apprehended by Putin’s soldiers in Mariupol.
Both guys claimed to be Ukrainian citizens serving lawfully in the country’s army when they called The Sun’s news desk weeks prior to their conviction.
They believed they were legitimate combatants with the right to be handled as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, according to recordings made when they called The Sun.
However, Aiden told the BBC about the circumstances of his detention: “It’s like some old Soviet sort of police thing.”
“They give you a two-liter bottle to distribute among everyone, so you’d be lucky if you got maybe a quarter of a cup of water along with a tiny piece of bread every day—there are no mattresses, just a concrete floor, and no bathroom.
“So it’s just the bare minimum to just keep you alive, and then on top of this, you have people that will get taken out – they’ll find out something about them, and you just hear them being beaten.”
ESCALATION IN RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Overnight on November 11, Kyiv launched US ATACMS missiles into Russian territory; two days later, British Storm Shadow rockets followed.
With horrifying pictures showing warheads falling from the sky, Putin retaliated Thursday by firing the hypersonic “Oreshnik” IRBM against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
The Russian autocrat then issued his most serious warning to date, threatening to attack US and British military sites.
Read More on The US Sun
Putin stated in a televised speech on Thursday that military installations in the US and the UK may be legitimate targets for Russian forces in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of NATO weapons.
He declared: “Russia believes it has the right to attack military installations of nations that allow the use of their weapons against Russia.
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