Australia has vowed it will take the “strongest action possible” if Russia has harmed one of its nationals captured fighting for Ukraine, after reports emerged the prisoner of war may have been killed.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to take decisive measures if harm has been inflicted on Oscar Jenkins, a Melbourne school teacher captured while fighting for Ukraine. Disturbing video footage from December shows Jenkins being interrogated by Russian forces.

There are fears an Australian man captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine has been executed. Oscar Jenkins, a 32-year-old teacher from Melbourne, was reportedly captured in the Donbas region.

Russia's vast Arctic oil business is facing major disruption from U.S. sanctions on its tankers and depots, stranding crude supplies previously snapped up by Asian buyers in storage, according to three sources familiar with its logistics.

The United States announced a sweeping sanctions package targeting Russia’s oil trade on Friday (January 10), with 183 tankers—a sizable part of the so-called shadow fleet that has kept Russian oil flowing to major consumers such as India and China—being placed under sanctions.

Oil-freight derivatives trading surged to the highest in at least a decade as the Biden administration’s sanctions on Russia continued to propel supertanker rates higher.

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart President Masoud Pezeshkian this week for the signing of a broad partnership pact between Moscow and Tehran.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Russia on Jan. 17 after which they will sign a long-awaited comprehensive strategic partnership pact, the Kremlin said on Monday.