By Jacob Shteyman in Canberra

Simeon Boikov has been variously described as a misinformation spreader, serial pest and Russian pawn.

But he may prove a “useful idiot” for the Australian government in securing the freedom of captured Melbourne man Oscar Jenkins.

Mr Boikov has been holed up in the Russian consulate in Sydney’s eastern suburbs since December 2022, after being charged with assaulting an elderly man at a pro-Ukraine protest in Sydney’s CBD.

While the self-styled “Aussie Cossack” is seeking asylum with the Russians of his own accord and is not a prisoner of the Australian judicial system, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said he could be used in an exchange to secure Mr Jenkins’ release.

“If he potentially proves himself to be, shall I say, a useful idiot in terms of a possibility for a Christmas swap, well that is something for the government to consider as it looks at ways to potentially bring an Australian free and break him from Russian custody,” Senator Birmingham told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

Mr Boikov volunteered himself to be exchanged with Mr Jenkins in a video posted on social media platform Telegram.

“I’m sure the Russians will be happy to accept,” Mr Boikov said.

“We should bring him home, he shouldn’t have been in Ukraine.

“Let’s do a deal.”

In a video posted to Russian social media on Sunday, Mr Jenkins is repeatedly slapped and interrogated by a Russian-speaking man assumed to be his captor.

The man asks Mr Jenkins how it was he came to be in Kramatorsk, a town 700km east of Kyiv in the Donbas region, near the Russian-Ukrainian frontline.

Standing in a forest and dressed in army fatigues, Mr Jenkins tells the man he wanted to help Ukraine.

The footage was disturbing, Senator Birmingham said.

“Obviously, all Australians would want to see and have confidence that this Australian citizen is going to be treated humanely, fairly, in accordance with the type of rules that should apply to prisoners of war,” he said.

Parading prisoners of war on social media is a breach of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which dictates that they must at all times be protected against insults and public curiosity.

The Australian government was making representations to Russia about Mr Jenkins, acting foreign affairs minister Mark Dreyfus said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was yet to determine his whereabouts but was first made aware about concerns for Mr Jenkins’ wellbeing in November, the ABC reported.

People close to the 32-year-old have not known his whereabouts for months.

“If that’s the case, then what steps has Australia taken to try to ascertain his whereabouts and seek to ensure his well being?” Senator Birmingham said.

While Mr Jenkins is believed to be the first Australian captured while fighting against Russia in Ukraine, at least seven Australians are believed to have died in the conflict.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Nationals leader David Littleproud have both implored Australians not to go over.

“This isn’t some great adventure,” Mr Littleproud told Nine’s Today Show.

“I had to bring back the remains of a young man from my own electorate, Jed Danahay, who was over there as a medic helping Ukrainians in the war zone and was tragically killed.

“I never forget the look and the anguish and the pain in his mother’s eyes when I handed back his ashes to her.”