Russia has placed Conor Kennedy, 32, the son of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on its international wanted list for fighting in Ukraine.
The Basmanny District Court of Moscow authorized Kennedy’s arrest in absentia last week, with Russian state media reporting he faces mercenary charges carrying a sentence of up to ten years if apprehended. Kennedy is among several foreign volunteers from the U.S., U.K., Sweden, Colombia, and Georgia who have been handed similar rulings by Russian courts.
Kennedy revealed his secret enlistment in an October 2022 Instagram post, where he explained he had joined Ukraine’s International Legion in the early months of Russia’s full-scale invasion. “I was deeply moved by what I saw happening in Ukraine over the past year. I wanted to help,” he wrote on the platform. “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 kept his deployment closely guarded, telling only one person in the U.S. His location and revealing his real name to just one contact in Ukraine. “I didn’t want my family or friends to worry, and I didn’t want to be treated differently there,” he explained in the same post. “I was also willing to die there. So they soon agreed to send me to the northeastern front.”
Kennedy admitted his lack of military background openly. “Going in, I had no prior military experience and wasn’t a great shot, but I could carry heavy things and learned fast,” he wrote. He described his fellow legionnaires as “true freedom fighters” and called the war “horrific,” adding that it “will shape the fate of democracy in this century.”
His then-girlfriend, Brazilian singer-songwriter Giulia Be, responded to the post with public admiration. “You’re the bravest man I’ve ever known, my love,” she wrote in the comments. “Being away from you and worrying for all those months was incredibly hard, but we kept our faith all the way through, and i just want to tell you [once more] how proud I am.”
RFK Jr., 71, later addressed his son’s decision in comments to reporters, acknowledging his initial conflicted reaction. “When he got back, I kind of expressed some — I don’t know — whether it’s anger or whatever,” the health secretary said. He added that Conor pushed back directly: “Dad, this is what you taught me to do: to stand up for what I believe in.” RFK Jr. Recalled his response simply as “okay.”
The ruling against Kennedy comes as the Trump administration attempts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, potentially straining relations between Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump given RFK Jr.’s cabinet position. Russian authorities claim Kennedy fought incognito in the Kharkiv region, though this has not been independently verified.
Kennedy’s inclusion on Russia’s wanted list was part of a broader release by the independent Russian website Mediazona, which published thousands of names Moscow considers fugitives. The list spans an eclectic range of targets beyond the expected political and military figures.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 47, appears on the list, as does former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who had advocated for making Crimea “unviable” for Russian occupation. The register also extends to cultural figures who opposed the invasion, including Russian singer-songwriter Monetochka, who fled to Latvia after speaking out, and rapper Ivan Timofeyevich Dryomin, known as Face, who left Russia in 2022. Journalists, academics, entrepreneurs, and political activists from across Europe round out the thousands-long roster.
In the viral moment that first brought Kennedy’s Ukraine service to light, his October 2022 Instagram post struck an unusually personal and reflective tone for a member of America’s most famous political dynasty. He framed his experience as part of a larger moral calling, urging followers to “join the legion, help on the border, or send medical supplies.” He closed with a pointed observation about the asymmetry of the conflict: “This isn’t a war between equals, it’s a revolution.” His stepmother, actress Cheryl Hines, responded with a string of heart emojis, while his sister Kyra Kennedy wrote simply, “I love you big brother.”
Kennedy, the grand-nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, married Giulia Be earlier this year after the couple became engaged in 2024.