Russian forces capture British man fighting with Ukraine, RIA reports

(Reuters) -Russian forces have captured a British man fighting with the Ukrainian army in Russia’s Kursk region, Russia’s RIA news agency cited a security source as saying after a video of a captive emerged over the weekend.

Britain said it was working to support the man, described by the source as a “mercenary”, as well as his family.

In a video posted on unofficial pro-war Russian Telegram channels on Sunday, a young bearded man wearing military clothing, his hands apparently tied behind his back, says in English that his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson and that he formerly served in the British Army.

“A mercenary from Great Britain, who called himself James Scott Rhys Anderson, was captured. He is now giving evidence,” the Russian source told RIA in remarks published on Sunday.

Reuters could not independently verify the video and the reports by RIA and other media. It was not clear when the video was filmed.

Britain’s foreign minister David Lammy, when asked about Anderson, told reporters in Italy: “I have been updated about that development in the last couple of days. Of course, we will do all that we can to offer this UK national all the support we can.”

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; additional reporting by Sachin Ravikumar in London, Editing by Philippa Fletcher)