WATCH: Aussie Cossack BARRICADES himself inside Russian consulate

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• By Avi Yemini

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In one of the weirdest interviews I have ever done, I spoke with pro-Russian commentator Aussie Cossack who has barricaded himself inside the Russian consulate in Sydney.

Also known as Simeon Boikov, he was charged and convicted of assaulting a man during a rally in support of Ukraine in December.

Boikov claims he was wrongly convicted without him being present at the time, but does not want to spend time in jail waiting for an appeal date.

“In a perfect world I could go out there now, clear my name and get on with my life,” he told me from a window high up in the Russian consulate as I stood on the sidewalk below.

“But to get a court date you have to wait eight months.”

Boikov agreed that he had pushed a man, but only lightly and only after first being assaulted himself. He said it was unfair that he had been convicted for a small push when a Victorian police officer who famously slung a man headfirst into the tiles of Flinders Street Station received no penalty.

“You can’t have one rule for the police and another for everyone else,” he said.

Boikov told me he would stay in the consulate “indefinitely” rather than risk arrest.

“We’ve settled in, enjoying the dissident’s life,” he joked. “It’s actually not a bad place. It’s a beautiful view of the harbor.

“For me it’s not hard to go to prison - hang out with the boys, play some sports, lose 20kg. But you have to admit when it comes to reporting on the Ukraine war the media is very biased. I’ve got more freedom here (to report the Russian side) than I do in Albanese’s Australia.”

Boikov said he was sick of being “chased by police” whom he claimed, “want me in jail whatever way they can”.

“I have no trust in the police or in the Australian government for me to actually be out of here,” he said.

“Being in the consulate I’m safe and I can’t be arrested or taken out by the cops.”

Boikov said he was continuing to produce and broadcast his YouTube videos from the Russian consulate.