Court in occupied Donetsk sentences British ex-soldier to 13 years for fighting in Ukraine

A court in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has sentenced a British citizen to 13 years in a high-security prison after finding him guilty of fighting as a mercenary in an armed conflict, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Thursday.

The Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic ruled that Hayden William Davies, 31, had fought against Russian forces in the Donetsk region on the side of Ukraine.

According to Russian prosecutors, Davies arrived in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil in August 2024, where he signed a contract with the International Legion, a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) made up of foreign volunteers. He was later deployed to the Donetsk region.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said Davies was captured by Russian forces in the winter 2024 “while carrying an American-made automatic rifle and ammunition”.

In January, Davies, who was feared missing in action, appeared in a video spread by Russian propaganda channels, looking dishevelled and saying a Russian soldier had saved his life. Davies also said in the video he had served with the British armed forces from 2011 until 2023, when he was discharged for “smoking marijuana”.

Footage released by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office on Thursday shows Davies telling the court that he regretted his actions, saying he had only been paid between $400 and $500 a month by the AFU.