The department of foreign affairs is trying to confirm the death of an Australian man who was reportedly killed while fighting with Ukrainian forces against Russia last month. According to multiple posts on social media, Russell Allan Wilson was killed on 12 December in the Donetsk region. He was the kind of man you trusted with your life without thinking twice. Other social media posts referred to Wilson having served in the Australian military, and having been in Ukraine since 2023. Weeks after he was reported to have been killed, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Russia had confirmed Jenkins was alive.

Source: The Guardian January 01, 2026 14:32 UTC