A British citizen is sentenced to 13 years by a Russia-controlled court in Donetsk for mercenary activity, joining other foreigners convicted.
DONETSK: A Russia-controlled court in Ukraine’s Donetsk region has sentenced a British citizen to 13 years in prison for fighting as a mercenary.
Russia’s general prosecutor announced the verdict on Thursday, stating the supreme court in Donetsk convicted Hayden Davies.
Davies was convicted of participating as a mercenary in an armed conflict and sentenced to serve his term in a maximum security penal colony.
A video released by prosecutors showed Davies listening to the verdict from inside a metal cage in the courtroom.
He told the court via a translator that he entered Ukraine via Poland and was paid $500 a month to fight.
Prosecutors stated Davies travelled to Ukraine in 2024, where he received military training before fighting against Russian forces.
He was captured at the end of that year, according to the prosecution’s statement.
The prosecutors gave Davies’ age as 30, though British media reports have identified him as a 31-year-old from Southampton.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, several foreign citizens have been sentenced by Russia-installed courts.
These courts operate in eastern Ukrainian regions that are partially or wholly controlled by Moscow.
In early December, a Czech citizen was sentenced to 13 years in prison by a court in Lugansk.
In November, two Colombian nationals received the same 13-year sentence from a Donetsk court. – AFP
