Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 18, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
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Hayden Davies, a British man, was sentenced to 13 years in a Russian prison for fighting in Ukraine. The UK disputes the mercenary charge, citing Geneva Conventions.
By Andrew Osborn
MOSCOW, Dec 18 (Reuters) - A British man who fought for Ukraine against the Russian army has been sentenced to 13 years in a maximum security prison camp after being convicted of being a paid mercenary, Russian prosecutors said on Thursday.
The jailed Briton was named as 30-year-old Hayden Davies by Russia's Prosecutor General which said he had been tried by a court in a part of Russian-controlled Donetsk, one of four Ukrainian regions which Moscow claimed as its own in 2022 in a move Kyiv and the West rejected an illegal land grab.
State prosecutors released a video of Davies being questioned as he stood behind bars, dressed in a black coat and with a shaven head. He says in the video that he had travelled to Ukraine to join the International Legion which paid him $400-500 per month.
The International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine is a unit of the Ukrainian military made up of foreign volunteers.
Asked if he pleaded guilty to the charge against him, Davies says "yeah" and nods his head.
It was not clear whether Davies was speaking under duress and there was no immediate comment from the British Foreign Office.
London in February said Davies was not a mercenary but a Prisoner of War entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions. It also condemned what it called Moscow's exploitation of prisoners of war "for political and propaganda purposes."
Russian prosecutors said on Thursday that Davies had arrived in western Ukraine in August 2024, signed a contract to fight for the International Legion, undergone military training, and then fought against the Russian army in Donetsk.
Davies had been captured by Russia in winter 2024 carrying a U.S.-made assault rifle and ammunition, they said.
British media have reported that Davies once served in the British army and is married and originally from Southampton.
A Russian court jailed another British man, James Scott Rhys Anderson, for 19 years in March after finding him guilty of fighting for Ukraine in the Kursk region of western Russia.
(Reporting by Andrew OsbornEditing by Guy Faulconbridge)
A mercenary is a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army. They are often motivated by financial gain rather than loyalty to a country.
A Prisoner of War (POW) is a combatant who is captured by enemy forces during armed conflict. POWs are entitled to certain protections under international law.
Military training is the process by which individuals are prepared for service in the armed forces. It includes physical conditioning, tactical skills, and the use of weapons.
A maximum security prison is a facility designed to hold the most dangerous inmates. It has strict security measures to prevent escapes and maintain order.
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