Conor Kennedy, the son of U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has now been placed on Russia’s international wanted list because of his participation in the war in Ukraine on the side of Kyiv’s forces.

According to the New York Post, Moscow’s Basmanny District Court approved the arrest of the 32-year-old, with Russian authorities accusing him of acting as a mercenary in the Ukrainian armed forces.

The Russian state-run news agency TASS reported that, if arrested and convicted in Russia, he would face a prison sentence of seven to ten years.

Conor Kennedy, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, revealed in October 2022 that he had secretly traveled to Ukraine and joined the International Legion, despite having no previous military experience.

“I knew I was going”

He described on Instagram how he made the decision to leave the United States and find himself on the front lines of the war. “Like many people, I was deeply shaken by what I was seeing happening in Ukraine. I wanted to help,” he wrote.

As he explained, when he learned about Ukraine’s International Legion, he immediately made the major decision, and the following day went to the embassy to enlist. It is worth noting that the unit of the Ukrainian army, made up of foreign volunteers, was established in February 2022 at the invitation of Volodymyr Zelenskyy to help defend the country against the Russian invasion.

His journey and enlistment were carried out in great secrecy. As he revealed, only one person in the United States knew where he really was, while in Ukraine only one person knew his real name. “I didn’t want my family or friends to worry, and I didn’t want to be treated differently there,” he explained.

“I wasn’t a good shot, but I was willing to die”

Kennedy admitted that when he arrived in Ukraine, he had no previous military experience. “I wasn’t much of a shot,” he wrote, noting, however, that he could carry heavy objects and was “a quick learner.”

His determination, he said, ultimately led to his being deployed to the front lines. “I was also willing to die there. So, they soon agreed to send me to the northeastern front,” he said.

Kennedy remained in Ukraine for about two and a half months before returning to the United States.

He even kept it from his father

The 32-year-old had not told either his father or his stepmother, actress Cheryl Hines, where he was. That summer, he was supposed to work at a law firm in Los Angeles. Instead, he told his parents that he had decided not to take the position after all, without revealing his actual plans.

“We asked him when he was going to start the job,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. later told People. “He had a good job and we were looking forward to having him stay with us. He told us that he had informed the law firm that he wasn’t going to go and that he was going to do something else.”

His parents began to suspect that something was happening when charges from Poland and Ukraine appeared on his credit-card statements.

When he eventually returned, his father reacted with anger and concern. According to RFK Jr., his son’s response was: “Dad, this is what you taught me to do: defend what I believe in.” “And I said, ‘Okay,’” his father recalled.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that, despite his initial concern, he was proud of his son’s decision, although their views on the war in Ukraine did not align. Conor, according to his father, strongly supported U.S. intervention and “didn’t want to be one of those people who support a war while sitting on the sidelines.”

After returning from Ukraine, Conor Kennedy continued his legal studies at Georgetown University. He is now listed as an associate attorney at the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum. The 32-year-old had previously attracted attention from the American media for his personal life as well, having had a brief relationship with Taylor Swift. This year, he married Brazilian singer and songwriter Giulia Be.