James Scott Rhys Anderson, who claims to be a former British soldier, was captured In RussiaIt is Kursk region while fighting for Ukraine, according to Russian state media.

The 22-year-old’s father said THE Daily Mail he feared his son was being tortured, while the UK Foreign Office confirmed it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.

His capture would mark one of the first known cases of a Western national being captured on Russian soil while fighting for Ukraine.

So who is Mr. Anderson and how was this man captured by Russian forces?

How did we get here?

In footage shared online, a man identifying himself as Mr Anderson is seen wearing combat fatigues while appearing to have his hands tied.

Russian state newspaper RIA reported that a national security source said he was a British citizen fighting in the Ukrainian army in Russia’s Kursk region.

Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into the region in August and are now facing an intensified counterattack Russian and apparently North Korean troops.

Who is James Scott Rhys Anderson?

In the footage, Mr Anderson said he served as a soldier in the British Army from 2019 to 2023, with the 22nd Signal Regiment. “I was a signalman,” he said.

He said he signed up to fight for the Ukrainian International Legion after losing his job.

“When I left…I applied on the International Legion web page. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said. “I (saw) it on TV… It was a stupid idea.”

Scott Anderson confirmed at Daily Mail that his son worked as a signalman in the Ukrainian International Legion, stating: “I hope he will be used as a bargaining chip, but my son told me that they torture their prisoners and I am so afraid that he is tortured. .”

Mr Anderson said his son had been in the British armed forces for four years, having attended the Army Foundation College aged 17. After leaving the army last year, he became a civilian officer for Thames Valley Police, before heading to Ukraine, Email reported.

“I didn’t want him to leave,” my father said.

Addressing the Email from his home in Oxfordshire, his 41-year-old father said he talked to his son on WhatsApp almost every day until he was assigned to his latest operation last week and was in the Ukrainian border region of Sumy – neighboring Kursk – when they last contacted.

He said his son was “alive and healthy” in Sumy, where he had sent a video to his father.

“James only came home a month and a half ago. He said his Ukrainian commander promised he would contact me if he was killed or captured,” Mr. Anderson said. “When he called me and sent me the video, I was in complete shock and in tears. I immediately saw that it was him. He looks scared, scared and worried.

He added: “I didn’t want him to leave. I tried to persuade him not to go – my whole family tried to persuade him. He wanted to go because he thought he was doing what was right. He was strongly opposed to what was happening to the Ukrainian people.