A Russian court has authorised the arrest in absentia of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s son for fighting in Ukraine in a move that could prove awkward for the Trump administration.
Conor Kennedy, the US health secretary’s son, has been placed on Russia’s international wanted list after being accused of acting as a mercenary for the Ukrainian army, according to a filing at Moscow City Court.
Mr Kennedy, 32, said he was “willing to die” in Ukraine while fighting for Kyiv’s armed forces in 2022. If captured, he would face between seven and ten years in prison.
He is among several foreign volunteers hailing from countries including the US, UK, Sweden, Colombia, and Georgia to have been handed a similar ruling by a Russian court, state news agency TASS said.
In a post from October 2022, Mr Kennedy revealed that he had fought in the early months of Ukraine’s war, having signed up to the Ukraine’s International Legion after witnessing Russia’s invasion from afar.
“I was deeply moved by what I saw happening in Ukraine over the past year. I wanted to help. When I heard about Ukraine’s International Legion, I knew I was going, and I went to the embassy to enlist the next day,” he wrote in a post on Instagram at the time.
The decision to arrest Mr Kennedy in absentia could further strain the relationship between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, despite the US president’s attempts to deepen ties between Washington and Moscow since reassuming office in January 2025. However, Trump has recently voiced his frustration with Russian opposition to a peace deal in Ukraine.
Mr Kennedy’s Instagram post continued: “I told one person here [in the US] where I was, and I told one person there my real name. I didn’t want my family or friends to worry, and I didn’t want to be treated differently there.”
Mr Kennedy added that he believes the war will “shape the fate of democracy in this century” and urged people to “join the legion, help on the border, or send medical supplies”.
Russian authorities say he fought for the Ukrainian army incognito in the Kharkiv area.
Among the other foreign volunteers to have been faced with similar decisions by the Russian court, according to Tass, are US citizen Ingram Asbill Tracy James, 37, British citizen Shorney Joseph Richard Ryan, who served as a drone operator, and a sergeant from Sweden aged 46.
Ramirez Ivan Tiku Dario, a 38-year-old from Colombia and 39-year-old Czech recruiter Jan Trčka have also faced such decisions.
Mr Kennedy is a graduate of Georgetown Law and was once romantically linked with Taylor Swift. The pair were reported to have dated in the summer of 2012.
