Russia jails former British soldier for 13 years over Ukraine fighting

Russia has jailed a former British soldier for 13 years in a maximum security penal colony after capturing him while he was fighting for Ukraine in the ongoing conflict.

Hayden Davies was found guilty of fighting as a mercenary in an armed conflict. The soldier who says he served in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, stated he was getting only £370 a month.

He claimed to have been kicked out of the British Army in 2023 for smoking marijuana.

The supreme court in the now Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk announced the verdict nearly a year after the 31-year-old was captured from Teretsk.

For the unversed, a maximum-security penal colony, also known as Supermax, is an extreme kind of detention that offers extreme isolation, constant surveillance, and strict routines, such as 24/7 standing, limited exercise, to prevent escape or harm.

Davies is also said to have taken tours of Germany, Canada, Cyprus and Afghanistan before entering Ukraine in 2024.

According to the Daily Mail, the prisoner of war was paraded around for a propaganda video before the verdict.

The soldier, who was previously believed dead, appeared in the video released by Russia. The video shows Davies in a camouflage-pattern military shirt and he appears clearly dishevelled.

The UK Foreign Office has yet to respond to the development.