Russia today paraded a British prisoner of war on Vladimir Putin‘s state-controlled media as he was threatened with up to 30 years in a hellhole penal colony.
James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, was seen bent double by an armed guard as he was hauled from his detention cell to face interrogation by the autocrat’s propagandists.
His answers indicated that he had been coached in what was acceptable to say.
The British man – formerly in the UK army – was captured by Russian forces last weekend as he was fighting for Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk region.
He made clear he has been told to expect a jail sentence of between 20 and 30 years when his case comes to court, as his family have expressed fears he could be tortured.
He is accused of terrorism, being a mercenary, invading Russia, and committing criminal acts against the civilian population.
‘I think my future is I spend a lot of time here… in Russia,’ Anderson said.
He admitted ignoring warnings from his family not to return to Ukraine and expressed deep regret, telling the cameras: ‘All the time when I’m in my cell, I’m always thinking about how my mum and dad said: ”Don’t go back, don’t go back”.’
Clearly speaking under duress, the Briton went on to tell Russian media about his time in Ukraine.
He told pro-Putin Izvestia that he was paid $400 US dollars a month [£315] as a mercenary fighting for Ukraine, with $60 a day [£47] when he went on missions.
He also told RIA Novosti it was wrong for Ukraine to invade Russia’s Kursk region, where he ultimately surrendered.
Anderson said Russian forces had superior weapons and manpower there, warning that if captured, soldiers should expect to spend decades in a Russian prison.
‘It’s not worth it,’ he added grimly.
He said of his family: ‘They knew that I was in Ukraine. I don’t know if they know where I am now.’
The captured Brit continued on with his spiel for the Russian cameras, saying it was wrong for Ukraine, with Western backing, to invade Russia’s Kursk region.
He mentioned having a court date in two months and admitted thinking about the lengthy sentence he would likely receive.
Despite this, he expressed a faint hope that the British government might intervene to secure his release.
A Russian platoon commander suggested Anderson had been in charge of Ukrainian troops when they surrendered rather than face being stormed.
The 22-year-old’s father told the Daily Mail earlier this week he was in ‘complete shock’ to discover his son’s fate and said he fears he will be tortured.
Scott Anderson, 41, said he and other family members had begged his son not to go to Ukraine before he joined up around eight months ago.
But he said his son would not be dissuaded because ‘he thought what he was doing was right’.
He said: ‘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.’
Speaking at the family home in Banbury, Oxfordshire, Mr Anderson Sr added he had been due to come home for Christmas in only a few weeks’ time.
The father-of-four said: ‘We spoke on WhatsApp almost every day until he went on his most recent operation. He was acting as a signalman.
‘James last came home only a month and a half ago. He said his Ukrainian commander had made a promise that he’d contact me if he was ever killed or captured.
‘When he called me and sent the video I was in complete shock and in tears. I could see straight away it was him. He looks frightened, scared and worried.
‘I didn’t want him to go. I did try to persuade him not to go – my whole family tried to persuade him.
‘He wanted to go out there because he thought he was doing what was right. He was dead against what was happening to the Ukrainian people.
‘Since he went out earlier this year, he’s fallen in love with a Ukrainian although I don’t know her name.
‘I last spoke to him when I last saw him but we used to talk on WhatsApp every day. He’d tell me where he’d been and the things he’d seen.
‘He was alive, healthy. He sent me a video when he was at Sumy. Then he was being posted within the last week.’
Mr Anderson senior, who said he served a short prison sentence for a domestic matter at the time his son joined the Ukrainians, said he has been contacted by Foreign Office officials.
His son had been in the Army for four years, having gone to Army Foundation College as a 17-year-old.
After leaving the Army last year, he became a civilian custody officer for Thames Valley Police, prior to joining the Ukrainians.
In the footage released by his captors, Mr Anderson can be heard describing his decision to go to fight for Ukraine in the Russian territory as a ‘stupid idea’.
He states he was a former soldier with the British Army, in the Royal Signals corps, between 2019 and 2023, but said he was dismissed.
He said he then applied for the International Legion of fighters helping Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine made a surprise incursion into Russia in the summer and seized 500 square miles of territory in the Kursk region.
It has since lost 40 per cent of this territory, according to recent reports.
In the video, Mr Anderson said: ‘When I left, got fired from my job, I applied for the international legion. I’d lost everything, my dad was in prison, I’d seen it on the TV. It was a stupid idea’.
Mr Anderson, appeared in the footage with an unkempt beard, his hair closely cropped and wearing green combat fatigues, but with no visible bruises or marks of torture.
He described travelling from Luton to Krakow, Poland, before travelling into Ukraine.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention.’
In 2022, six British nationals – fighters Sean Pinner, Aiden Aslin, Andrew Hill and John Harding, and aid volunteers Dylan Healy and Paul Urey – were captured by Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and threatened with the death penalty.
Father-of-four Mr Urey, aged 45, died in Russian captivity, while the other five were eventually released in September that year following negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, brokered by Saudi Arabia and involving former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.
In a message to Mr Anderson, Mr Harding, 61, said: ‘I’d say to him, don’t give up hope. I’d hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
‘I’m sure there’ll be people from the Ukrainian side trying to negotiate his release but I understand it’s a lot worse to be captured now than when I was. There seem to be fewer negotiations going on.
‘When I was first captured, I was held in solitary but when they ran out of space, they put all us Brits together and we used to encourage each other.’
Mr Harding, who had been fighting in Ukraine for four years before being captured and subjected to interrogation and torture, added: ‘I was quite aggressive when I was first captured but it didn’t work.
‘If I was him, I’d be the grey man, try and keep my head down. You’ve got to give them (the Russians) some information but you try not to give them any information which could be of use.’
