Russia Seeks Arrest of RFK Jr.’s Son Conor Kennedy Over Ukraine War Service

A Moscow court has authorized the arrest in absentia of Conor Kennedy, the son of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., over his service with Ukraine’s International Legion. Russian authorities accuse Kennedy of participating in the war as a mercenary, a criminal allegation that turns on how foreign military volunteers are classified under Russian and international law.

The Basmanny District Court approved the arrest request, and the Moscow City Court later upheld the order after Kennedy’s defense appealed, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Russian authorities have also placed Kennedy on an international wanted list. He has not been convicted.

Kennedy publicly disclosed in October 2022 that he had traveled to Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion and joined the International Legion despite having no previous military experience. He said at the time that he kept his identity largely secret while serving. Russian media reported that Kennedy participated in combat in the Kharkiv region before leaving Ukraine later that year.

The Russian case centers on whether his service can be treated as mercenary activity. Russia’s Criminal Code separately criminalizes mercenarism under Article 359 and defines a mercenary in part as someone who participates in fighting for material compensation, is not a citizen or permanent resident of the country involved in the conflict, and was not sent there to perform official duties.

Ukraine gives foreign volunteers who formally join its military a different legal status. The International Legion’s official government site states that foreign volunteers are full members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and have the same duties, legal protections, military pay and benefits as other Ukrainian service members. Foreign nationals may enter military service contracts with Ukrainian armed forces units.

That distinction is also important under international humanitarian law, which does not treat every foreign national who fights in another country’s war as a mercenary.

Article 47 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions sets out six conditions that must all be met for someone to qualify as a mercenary under the treaty. Among other requirements, the person must be motivated mainly by private gain, must have been promised compensation substantially greater than that paid to comparable members of the armed forces, and cannot be a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict.

Receiving ordinary military pay is therefore not enough on its own to meet the treaty definition. Formal membership in a country’s armed forces also matters because Article 47 expressly excludes those service members from mercenary status. The provision does not itself make mercenary service a crime. Instead, it governs a fighter’s status under the law of armed conflict, including entitlement to combatant and prisoner of war status. Countries may separately impose criminal penalties through their own domestic laws.

The difference between those legal systems is central to the Kennedy dispute. Russian authorities claim his participation with Ukrainian forces amounted to mercenary activity under Russian criminal law. Ukraine, by contrast, treats foreigners accepted into its armed forces as military service members. Kennedy’s service with the International Legion is not disputed in the available reporting, but Russia’s legal characterization of that service forms the basis of the criminal case.

Russia’s statement that Kennedy has been placed on an international wanted list should also be distinguished from an INTERPOL Red Notice. TASS did not report that INTERPOL had issued such a notice. INTERPOL describes a Red Notice as a request for police in member countries to locate and provisionally arrest a person while extradition or similar proceedings are considered. A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant, and individual countries decide what effect to give one under their own laws.

The Moscow City Court has upheld Kennedy’s arrest order, leaving the measure in force after his defense challenged it. Kennedy remains wanted by Russian authorities over his 2022 service in Ukraine and has not been reported to be in Russian custody.