Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s son Conor has been placed on Russia’s international wanted list for his covert enlistment to fight in the war in Ukraine.
Russian authorities accused Conor Kennedy, 32, of acting as a mercenary for the Ukrainian armed forces and authorized his arrest in absentia Wednesday, Russian state media outlet TASS reported.
Mr. Kennedy’s defense disagreed with the Basmanny District Court of Moscow’s ruling, but an appeals court upheld the district court’s decision.
Under Russia’s Criminal Code, he could face seven to 10 years in prison.
Mr. Kennedy said in October 2022 that he traveled to Ukraine to assist against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by enlisting in the country’s International Legion, formed at the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“I told one person here where I was, and I told one person there my real name. I didn’t want my family or friends to worry, and I didn’t want to be treated differently there,” he posted on social media. “Going in, I had no prior military experience and wasn’t a great shot, but I could carry heavy things and learned fast. I was also willing to die there.”
Mr. Kennedy said he was sent to the northeastern front. TASS reported that he fought incognito for the Ukrainian army in the Kharkiv area.
However, he said his “time in Ukraine wasn’t long,” and he disclosed his trip months after the war began in February 2022.
“I liked being a soldier, more than I had expected. It is scary. But life is simple, and the rewards for finding courage and doing good are substantial,” Mr. Kennedy posted. “My friends there know why I had to come home. l’ll always owe them for their example. I know I’m lucky I made it back, but I would also take all the risks we took over again.”
Russia characterizes Ukraine’s International Legion as a force of illegal “mercenaries” rather than lawful combatants, threatening criminal prosecution, long prison sentences or trials in Russian-controlled courts for captured foreign volunteers.
Ukraine officially dissolved the Ground Forces’ International Legion units by the end of 2025 and reassigned foreign volunteers into regular national assault regiments.
Mr. Kennedy is among multiple foreign volunteers who have been dealt similar rulings.
When Mr. Kennedy left for Ukraine, he did not tell his father or stepmother, actress Cheryl Hines, leading them to believe he took a job with a Los Angeles law firm.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told People magazine in 2022 that his son said: “Listen, I know this is going to be difficult for you, but I don’t want you to ask me what I’m doing. I’m doing something that I want to do and [something that] I believe in, and I don’t want you to ask about it.”
He said that while his son’s “views about the war were not aligned with mine … he’d been arguing vociferously for the U.S. intervention, and he didn’t want to be one of these people supporting a war and sitting on the sideline.”
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.