Russian Telegram channels published a video with 22-year-old James Scott Rees Anderson, who claims to be a former British soldier, held captive by Russia. In the video, he says he served as a signalman in the British army but was discharged last year, shortly before he decided to go to Ukraine.
The 22-year-old Anderson said that since 2019 he served as a private in the Royal Corps of Signals regiment. A military source told the Russian state news agency TASS that he was captured in the Kursk region.
In the video, Anderson says that when he was discharged, he "applied on the international legion's webpage." He flew from Luton to Krakow, and from there took a bus to the border.
As noted by The Times, in one video where he is captured, he is asked why he came to Russia. "[My] commander took my things and said I should come," Anderson replies, then clarifies that he means his passport and phone.
As The Times writes, the unit that captured Anderson was formed from veterans of the Wagner PMC and is now part of the Chechen unit "Akhmat."
The father of the captured Briton, Scott Anderson, told the publication that family members tried to persuade his son not to go to Ukraine before he joined the unit about eight months ago, but he did not succumb to persuasion because he "believed that what he was doing was right," as he was categorically against "what is happening to the Ukrainian people."
"I hope he will be exchanged, but my son told me that they torture their prisoners, and I am very afraid that he will be tortured," the father told Daily Mail, adding that his son was supposed to come home for Christmas in a few weeks. According to him, the last time his son came home was just a month and a half ago.
The UK Foreign Office stated that it is providing support to the Briton's family "following reports of his detention."
"I have been informed about this event in the last couple of days, and of course, we will do everything possible to provide the British citizen with all possible support," said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.