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.

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 Group of Seven democracies has sought to crimp Russia's oil export earnings that help fund the war against Ukraine. But Western governments and sanctions experts say Moscow has resorted to using a so-called shadow fleet of hundreds of aging tankers of uncertain ownership and safety practices that are dodging sanctions and keeping the oil revenue coming.

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.