MOSCOW, Nov 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Russian television late Wednesday aired footage of a journalist questioning a young Briton captured while fighting for Ukraine in the Kursk region where Kyiv has mounted a border incursion.

Handcuffed, with a shaven head and dressed in prison uniform, James Anderson was shown being questioned in English by a war correspondent for Rossiya 1 channel who asked him if he was a "Nazi".

Russia has launched a criminal case against the 22-year-old on charges of carrying out a "terrorist attack", punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and acting as a mercenary in combat, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Russia does not treat foreigners captured fighting for Ukraine as prisoners of war, but as mercenaries.

Anderson appeared calm as he showed the journalist his tattoos and said he did not kill any civilians.

Russian TV said he was fighting for a "neo-Nazi battalion" called Arei (Ares) made up of volunteers.

"Are you a Nazi?" the journalist asked.

"No," Anderson replied.

A shot of his hands showed his fingernails black with ingrained dirt, suggesting he is being kept in insanitary conditions.

Anderson said that he fought alongside a Dane and another British man in Kursk. It was not clear if they were also taken prisoner.

In comments dubbed over into Russian, Anderson apparently said he began fighting in the Kursk region on November 15. He was taken prison on November 23.

Videos of Anderson being interrogated first appeared on pro-Kremlin Telegram channels at the weekend.

Russia's Investigative Committee said Tuesday that Anderson is suspected of carrying out "criminal actions against the peaceful population". A court in the Kursk region remanded him in custody.

Anderson comes from Banbury in Oxfordshire.

Last month Russia sentenced a 72-year-old US citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary on the side of Ukraine to nearly seven years in prison.

Stephen Hubbard had been in custody for more than two years and was sentenced after a trial held behind closed doors.