Russia has placed Conor Kennedy, the son of current US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on its wanted list for fighting in Ukraine in 2022.
Conor Kennedy is the great-nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy. Conor’s father, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was sworn in as the 26th health secretary on Feb. 13 under US President Donald Trump amid criticisms over his previous controversial remarks, particularly those on vaccines.
Russian state media TASS reported on Aug. 12 that Moscow’s Basmanny District Court authorized Conor Kennedy’s arrest in absentia and thus placed him on its wanted list.
Conor Kennedy has been accused of mercenarism for fighting as part of Ukraine’s International Legion under Russia’s Criminal Code and faces seven to 10 years in prison.
TASS said Conor Kennedy’s lawyer appealed the decision, but the court upheld it.
Conor Kennedy wrote about his time in Ukraine in an October 2022 Instagram update, in which he said he was “deeply moved by what [he] saw happening in Ukraine over the past year.”
He said he had no prior military experience before joining and told only a select few about his enlistment.
“I told one person here 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,” he wrote.
Ukraine’s International Legion was formed at the onset of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with foreign volunteers serving as full-fledged soldiers under the same conditions as Ukrainian troops, while Moscow disputed their status and accused them of mercenarism.
The legion was disbanded in February 2026, with its foreign troops transferred to regular Ukrainian units.
Conor Kennedy is also known for his brief romance with US pop star Taylor Swift in the 2010s but has married Brazilian pop singer Giulia Be in March 2026.