Aussie Cossack asks Wagner Group for Ukraine prisoner swap
A notorious pro-Putin YouTuber, currently hiding from police in the Russian Consulate in Sydney, has called on the Wagner mercenary group to capture Australian and New Zealand citizens fighting in Ukraine for a “prisoner swap” so he can flee to Russia.
Simeon Boikov, 33, who goes by the name “Aussie Cossack”, has been holed up in the Woollahra consulate since December, where he fled seeking “political asylum” after being told by police he was wanted for questioning — the day before he was due to fly to Moscow.
Boikov was accused of assaulting a 76-year-old man at a pro-Ukraine rally at Sydney’s Town Hall. At the time, he was on parole after serving six months in prison for breaching a suppression order by naming an alleged paedophile at an anti-lockdown rally in May 2022.
After being paroled he had booked a ticket to Russia — but his passport and parole were revoked on the eve of his planned trip.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald out of the consulate window, Boikov likened himself to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. “The Russians don’t plan to surrender me, to give me up, this is not the Ecuadorians,” he said. “I’m not living out of a suitcase.”
Boikov had amassed some 230,000 followers across his social media accounts including YouTube, Telegram and Facebook, but his YouTube account was permanently suspended last week over what he says were Covid vaccine excess death claims.
On alternative video platform Rumble, where he has 2700 followers, Boikov issued a direct appeal to Evgeniy Prigozhin, the leader of the feared Wagner Group, which is involved in much of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine.
“Once again they want to imprison me,” he said in Russian.
“I’m currently in the Russian Consulate. The only way to leave here, in light of Australia being an island, is through a diplomatic solution. I know that Wagner Group are capable of solving a range of problems, even on distant frontiers, including technical questions. Therefore I propose to review the possibility of a prisoner exchange so I am able to leave Australia and move to Russia.”
Boikov then read out a list of names of Australian and New Zealand citizens allegedly fighting on the “front line” in Ukraine. “If you should stumble upon these people, please take them prisoner and contact the Russian Consulate to facilitate an exchange,” he said.
“Of course I understand that in the heat of battle it is not always possible to take them alive, however if this situation occurs I would be very grateful.”
Boikov said the Australian government “will be having a very serious conversation, of course they have an interest in the safety of their lost and misguided Nazi mercenary citizens”.
“Keep working brothers,” he concluded. “Good lads. We are with you. The Russian world and Russians in Australia are with you.”
Boikov was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm over the December protest incident.
He had posted a video to his YouTube channel following the rally which showed him in a scuffle with the man, who fell backwards down the stairs. The man was taken to hospital with a head injury, with NSW Police called to the scene.
A magistrate convicted Boikov in absentia in February and issued a second arrest warrant.
In an earlier video on social media, Boikov said he had made the “tough decision” to seek refuge in the Russian Consulate.
“I have no faith in the legal system, no faith in the police, no faith in the courts to be fair in this process,” he said in the video.
“So in order to mount the defence, in order to conduct a fair process, I’ve decided to enter the Russian Consulate and ask the Russian government for political asylum.”
Boikov, who was born in Sydney, claims he is the leader of the Australian Cossacks – a group which promotes pro-Russian government sentiment.
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His following increased substantially during Covid, where he was a prominent personality at the anti-vaccine mandate protests in Canberra in 2022.
During lockdowns he would also drive around Sydney with the Eureka flag on his car, filming confrontations with police over public health orders.
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