Russian nationalist taunts crowd at anti-vax rally in Sydney

A man who openly supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has addressed an anti-vax rally in Sydney just a day after being released from prison for breaching court orders.

Prominent Russian nationalist Simeon Boykov, 32, who lives in Sydney and goes by the name Aussie Cossack online, spoke at an anti-vax rally in Martin Place on Saturday near a statue of Vladimir Putin, where he reiterated to the crowd his admiration for the Russian leader. Vladimir Putin.

Mr Boykov, who was paroled on Friday from the Longbay Correctional Complex, where he had been held since June, after serving a 10-month sentence for publicly naming an alleged pedophile.

He approached the crowd and gave a speech that included topics from Prince Charles to Australia’s wildlife.

A small crowd of about 100 protesters were told he had “hands tied, orange jumpsuit like Guantanamo, and my legs were tied.”

“It was really outrageous,” he said.

Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly was among the crowd, where people said a retired Supreme Court judge had recently conceded the Australian government had no basis in law.

Mr Kelly lost his lower house seat of Hughes at the federal election in May.

Mr Boikac also told the crowd that he had received more than 5,000 letters of support while he was in prison, which was “very touching”.