British mercenary ‘fighting for Ukraine in Russia’ captured in Kursk

A British mercenary fighting for Ukraine inside Russia has been captured by Putin’s forces and paraded on camera.

Video footage shows British soldier James Scott Rhys Anderson tied to a chair after being taken prisoner and interrogated by Russian soldiers.

A second video shows Anderson, who refers to himself as ‘Jimmy Wray’ facing further interrogation by his captors with tape over his eyes.

The ex-soldier is believed to have been captured during fierce fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops staged a surprise cross-border incursion over the summer.

In a series of propaganda videos filmed by the Russians, Anderson reveals his military history and how he found himseld behind enemy lines.

Anderson claimed to have served in the British army from 2019 to 2023, and joined Ukraine’s International Brigade as a mercenary after being fired from the armed forces.

The 22-year-old mercenary claims to have served in the 22nd Signal Regiment, a unit of the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army, which provides cutting-edge communication and information systems support to the fighting force.

Anderson said he was in the ’22 Signal Regiment, just a private. I was a signalman. 1 Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment. 252 Squadron.

He then went on to explain why he joined Ukrainian forces fighting Russia on the frontline. 

The ex-soldier added: ‘Okay – so when I left, got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion [of Ukraine] webpage.

‘I had just lost everything. I just lost my job.

‘My dad was away in prison. I saw it on the TV. It’s a stupid idea. I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton.

‘Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border [and then to Ukraine].’

In another video, the captured soldier introduced himself as being ‘Jimmy Wray, Britannia, Oxford.’

Unlike the first video, his words on camera appeared to make little sense- possibly in an attempt to defy his captors.

‘I learned for one year. And I stay for four years,’ he said.

‘Commander, take my **** and tell me to come… take  my passport, everything, my telephone……. I don’t want to be here.’ 

He said he had been with Ukrainian forces for four months, and implied his role was to teach Ukrainians ‘how to shoot,  how to…patrol,  maybe evacuation.’

A Russian military source told the state-controlled TASS news agency: ‘A mercenary from Britain has been taken prisoner in the Kursk region.’

A Russian report said: ‘Overall, the footage will be useful and will be able to tell a lot of interesting things about communications and its structure in the British army.’

Ukraine holds several hundred square kilometres of the  Kursk region, which borders the northeast of Ukraine, but Putin’s forces are gradually pushing them back.

Inside Kursk, it has been claimed that North Korean soldiers are fighting alongside Russians. 

The capture comes after a top Russian general, along with 500 North Korean soldiers, were allegedly killed by British Storm Shadow missiles in a devastating attack.

The UK Foreign Office said it was ‘supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention’.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.

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