A FORMER Brit soldier has been jailed for 13 years in one of Vladimir Putin’s hellhole gulags after being captured fighting for Ukraine.
A Moscow-controlled court in the occupied Donetsk region convicted Hayden Davies, who was captured last year, and ordered him to serve his sentence in a maximum-security penal colony.
The so-called supreme court claimed Davies, 30, had “participated as a mercenary in an armed conflict” on Ukraine‘s side and that he received payment for taking part in military operations.
According to the prosecutor’s statement, Davies was found guilty under Russian criminal law provisions on mercenary activity.
The trial was held under the authority of Russia’s self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, a body not recognised by the UK, Ukraine or most of the international community.
Davies, born in Southampton, was taken prisoner in 2024.
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Russian investigators allege he travelled to Ukraine via Poland in August that year, joined Ukraine’s International Defence Legion, underwent training and was issued weapons before being sent to the front line in the Donetsk region.
State-aligned outlet REN TV reported that he was captured during fighting in the winter of 2024 and was allegedly found carrying an American-made assault rifle and ammunition.
Russian prosecutors say this proved he was acting as a mercenary.
The Brit has previously been paraded in Russia propaganda videos after a pro-Kremlin channel falsely reported he had been killed in action.
In the heavily edited footage, which appeared to have been filmed under duress, Davies criticised Ukrainian commanders and the International Legion.
He said in the video: “Obviously with the International Legion, you sign a contract and you’re brainwashed into thinking that you’re in the right.”
He also complained about conditions and leadership, adding: “The money is **** and your chain of command don’t care about you. They do not care.”
A Foreign Office spokesman previously said: “We are supporting the family of a British national who has reportedly been detained by Russia.”
The Sun has contacted the FCDO for the latest information,
Hayden Davies previously served with the Royal Regiment of Scotland before leaving the military in 2023.
He claimed he was kicked out after being caught “smoking marijuana”, a detail that would later be often featured in Russian propaganda footage aired after his capture.
Davies had previously drawn attention in the UK for reasons far removed from the battlefield.
In 2020, he made headlines for staging what was billed as the country’s “cheapest wedding”, marrying his childhood sweetheart at a registry office for around £300 during the pandemic.
As a teenager, he was also praised for bravery after helping save the life of a young woman having an epileptic fit in a North Yorkshire street.
He said at the time: “I feel quite excited to be called a hero, it’s a first. I would do it again.”
Davies’ sentencing comes days after Russian authorities said a Brazilian national had also been given 13 years for allegedly fighting for Ukraine.
Moscow continues its efforts to prosecute foreign fighters through courts set up in occupied territory.
Ukraine and its allies say Russia routinely abuses international law in such cases, denying prisoners of war basic protections and using sham trials to score political points at home and abroad.
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