“He was making $500 a month.” British volunteer convicted by the Russians

A British citizen, fighting in the Ukrainian army, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for “mercenary activities” by a court in Russian-occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, AFP reported on Thursday.

The court found Hayden Davies guilty of “participating in an armed conflict as a mercenary”.

The man testified during interrogations through an interpreter that he came to Ukraine through Poland and he earned “a very low salary, about $500” a month.

According to the Russian side, Davies arrived in Ukraine in August 2024 and then underwent military training there. In the following months he fought against the Russians. He was captured at the end of the same year.

Russia systematically considers foreigners fighting on the side of Ukraine as “mercenaries” and – in accordance with Russian law – considers them criminals. Since 2022, several foreigners have been convicted of mercenary crimes by courts in Russian-controlled Ukrainian territories.

In October 2024, 70-year-old American citizen Stephen Hubbard was sentenced to six years and ten months in prison for “mercenary activities” for Ukraine. In early November 2025, two Colombians were sentenced to 13 years in prison for alleged mercenaries in the Russian-occupied part of the Donetsk Oblast. The same verdict was also passed at the beginning of December in the case of a Czech citizen in the Luhansk Oblast, which was occupied almost entirely by Russian forces. (PAP).

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