A FORMER Brit soldier has been jailed for 13 years in a Russian hellhole gulag 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.
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.
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