"The Australian government has received confirmation from Russia that Oscar Jenkins is alive and in custody," she said in comments reported by The Guardian. Jenkins is serving in the 402nd Separate Rifle Battalion, which is part of Ukraine's 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade, the Ukrainian investigative journalism outlet Slidstvo.Info reported on Jan. 17.He went missing on Dec. 16 in 2024 while being on a combat mission near the village of Mykolaivka in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine's Ground Forces Command told the outlet.In a video that emerged on Russian Telegram channels in late December, Jenkins is seen in military fatigues, interrogated by Russian captors.The man behind the camera asks the captive about his name and background and whether he wants to live while beating him over the head.Unverified reports began circulating in mid-January that the soldier was executed by his Russian captors, prompting Australian officials to make urgent inquiries to Russia about his whereabouts.