Conor Kennedy, the Kennedy family scion once linked romantically to Taylor Swift, is now a wanted man in Russia over his combat service in Ukraine. A Moscow court has authorised his arrest in absentia on mercenary charges tied to his 2022 enlistment in Ukraine's International Legion.
If detained, he faces up to ten years in prison under Russian law. The case marks the first time Kennedy's brief 2012 romance with Swift and his covert wartime service have collided in a single international headline.
The Basmanny District Court of Moscow authorised Kennedy's arrest in absentia on 12 August, according to Russian state news agency TASS. He has been charged under Part 3 of Article 353 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict or military action.
A correspondent for TASS reported that Kennedy's legal team appealed the ruling, but the appeals court upheld the original decision. Russian courts have used the mercenary statute repeatedly against foreign nationals who joined Ukraine's ranks, arguing that the International Legion constitutes an unlawful militia rather than a legitimate branch of Ukraine's armed forces.
If Kennedy were ever captured, he would face a prison sentence of seven to ten years, a punishment Russian courts have handed down to other foreign fighters brought before them in absentia. Kennedy, 32, has not been detained and remains in the United States.
Kennedy quietly travelled to Ukraine in 2022 without telling his father, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or his stepmother, actress Cheryl Hines. He enlisted in Ukraine's International Legion and was deployed to the Kharkiv region during the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion, serving roughly two and a half months on the northeastern front.
Kennedy later described his decision in a social media post, writing that he told almost no one where he was going and used a different name so he would not 'be treated differently there'. He added that he had no prior military experience and 'wasn't a great shot,' but 'could carry heavy things and learned fast,' and said he 'was also willing to die there.'
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he only grew suspicious of his son's whereabouts after credit card charges began appearing from Poland and then Ukraine. He later told 'PEOPLE' magazine that his son had asked him directly not to question what he was doing, and said he came to feel pride rather than alarm once he learned the truth.
Kennedy returned to the United States after his service and resumed his law studies at Georgetown University, graduating in 2023. He now works as an attorney at a Los Angeles law firm.
Kennedy's case is not an isolated one. Russia has issued similar in absentia charges against other foreign nationals who served with Ukraine's International Legion, treating captured or identified volunteers as illegitimate combatants subject to prosecution rather than protection under the laws of war governing regular soldiers.
Ukraine officially dissolved the Ground Forces' International Legion units by the end of 2025, folding remaining foreign volunteers into regular national assault regiments. The legal exposure for those who served under its earlier structure has continued to surface in Russian courts, however.
Neither Kennedy nor his father has issued a public statement responding directly to the Moscow court's ruling. The case adds Kennedy's name to a small but growing list of American volunteers Russian authorities have targeted with mercenary charges since the war began, underscoring the legal risk that continues to follow foreign fighters years after their service ended.
Long before his name appeared in Russian court filings, Kennedy was known primarily for a brief, high-profile relationship with Taylor Swift. The two dated in the summer of 2012, when Swift was 22 and Kennedy had just turned 18, meeting through the Kennedy family's connections after Swift wrote 'Starlight' about Kennedy's grandmother, Ethel Kennedy.
Their romance drew tabloid attention that summer, including headlines after the couple attended a Kennedy family wedding. It is widely believed to have inspired Swift's song 'Begin Again' on her 2012 album 'Red'. The relationship ended that October, roughly a decade before Kennedy's covert deployment to Ukraine.
For now, Kennedy remains in the United States, out of reach of the warrant that could see him imprisoned if he ever crosses into Russian jurisdiction.