A British man has been jailed for 13 years in a Russian maximum security prison camp after being convicted for fighting with the Ukrainian army, Russian prosecutors said.
Hayden Davies, 30 was accused by Moscow of being a “paid mercenary” who fought in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where fierce fighting continues.
The office of Russia's Prosecutor General said he had been tried by a court in a part of Russian-controlled Donetsk, one of four Ukrainian regions which Moscow illegally claimed as its own in 2022. It did not say how Davies had pleaded.
Davies had arrived in western Ukraine in August 2024, signed a contract to fight for the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine, underwent military training, and then fought against the Russian army in Donetsk, the statement claimed.
He had been captured by Russia in winter 2024 carrying a US-made assault rifle and ammunition, it added.
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.
Davies said he fought in the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine, 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."
Mr Davies first went missing in January, and was feared dead until Russia released a propaganda video of him speaking after his capture.
In the video, he says he is from Southampton, was removed from the British Army in 2023 for smoking marijuana, and struggled to find work afterwards.
He said he chose to fight in Ukraine after he was kicked out of the British Army. He is critical of Ukrainian commanders, and said the chain of command “don’t care about you” and would “use you as meat”.
Davies added in the video that “every single country you’d find in Nato, has people in the International Legion”.
Most of these, he says, are Colombians, of whom he says there are “hundreds”.
He said he did not receive proper training and that there were “no heavy guns” to use for drills.
Davies said he hid in a bunker for two months alone on the battlefield, and claimed that he was rescued by a Russian who offered him a cigarette.
The Independent has contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for comment.
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