A Moscow court has authorized the arrest of Conor Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and grand-nephew of President John F. Kennedy, after charging him as a mercenary for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
The Basmanny District Court of Moscow approved the arrest in absentia on August 12, according to Russian state media outlet TASS. Kennedy, 32, faces charges under Article 353 of the Russian Criminal Code for "participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict or military action." If Russian authorities ever detain him, he could spend seven to ten years behind bars.
Kennedy's legal team challenged the ruling but lost. A TASS correspondent reported that the defense "disagreed with this decision and appealed it," but that the appeals court "decided to uphold the court's decision." Russia then placed Kennedy on its most wanted list, a move that carries symbolic weight but limited practical reach, given that Kennedy is an American citizen unlikely to set foot on Russian soil.
The charges trace back to 2022, when Kennedy quietly traveled to Ukraine and enlisted with the International Legion, a unit of the Ukrainian armed forces that accepts foreign volunteers. The New York Post reported that Kennedy made the trip without telling his father or his stepmother, Cheryl Hines. His family only learned of his whereabouts after credit card charges from Poland and Ukraine raised suspicions.
Kennedy disclosed his service publicly in an October 2022 Instagram post. He did not hide what he had done or why he had done it.
"My time in Ukraine wasn't long but I saw a lot and I felt a lot."
In a separate post, he went further, the Daily Caller reported:
"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."
Kennedy also told his father directly upon returning: "Dad, this is what you taught me to do: to stand up for what I believe in." And in another Instagram post, he wrote that he "was also willing to die there."
Article 353 of the Russian Criminal Code criminalizes mercenary participation in armed conflict. Russia has used the statute against foreign fighters who joined Ukrainian forces, treating volunteer service as criminal activity. The Basmanny District Court, a Moscow court that routinely handles politically sensitive cases, authorized Kennedy's arrest in absentia on the same day TASS published its report.
For Kennedy, the practical consequences are narrow. Russia's wanted list binds Russian law enforcement and, in theory, cooperating nations. But an American citizen with no plans to visit Russia or Russian-allied territory faces little real risk of detention. No public statement from the U.S. State Department on the charges has been reported.
Kennedy himself has not responded publicly to the Russian charges. Neither has his father, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The family's silence leaves open whether they view the move as a serious legal threat or a piece of political theater from Moscow.
Conor Kennedy is the grandson of former U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy and the grand-nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He briefly made tabloid headlines in 2012 for dating pop star Taylor Swift. His decision to fight in Ukraine placed him in a different kind of spotlight, one that now includes a foreign government's criminal warrant.
Whatever one thinks of the wisdom of a young American volunteering for combat in a foreign war, Russia's response tells you more about Moscow than about Kennedy. Charging an American citizen under a mercenary statute for joining a force that his own government has armed, funded, and publicly supported is not a legal proceeding. It is a message, and one that carries the weight of a country that has no jurisdiction to enforce it.