Foreigners go to fight in Ukraine: how legal is it and can they be punished

Thousands of foreign soldiers volunteered to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion. But some of them may face legal consequences in their countries. Is it legal to fight for another country and what can wait for volunteers, the publication said Reuters.

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Among the volunteers in the war in Ukraine there are citizens of Canada, Georgia, India, Japan, Great Britain and the USA.

Is it legal for foreigners to volunteer

US citizens are not prohibited from serving in the armed forces of another country, according to the State Department website. Serving as an officer or fighting against a country that is at peace with the United States may be grounds for voluntary renunciation of citizenship, but foreign military service by itself cannot be used to deprive Americans of citizenship.

A US statute of 1794, the Neutrality Act, prohibits citizens from waging war against foreign governments at peace with Washington and carries a prison sentence of up to three years. The law, which technically could apply to voluntary military action against Russia, was used to prosecute Americans involved in the 2014 Gambian coup attempt. But otherwise, according to David Malet, a professor at American University in Washington, DC, it has rarely been used in modern history.

“It’s hard for me to imagine how Americans will be prosecuted for traveling to Ukraine,” Malet said.

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Britons traveling to Ukraine to fight may face prosecution upon return, according to a UK Foreign Office bulletin. When asked what charges would be applied to British volunteers, a spokesman for the British Foreign Office declined to comment.

The United Kingdom Foreign Recruitment Act, last updated in 1870, prohibits citizens from joining foreign military forces fighting in countries at peace with Britain, but it does not apply to modern conflicts.

The British Foreign Secretary initially expressed support for citizen volunteers who would fight in Ukraine, but later warned against any travel there.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called on his country's citizens not to join the hostilities in Ukraine and told reporters there was "uncertainty" about the legal status of such a decision.

The Indian Home Office did not respond to a request for comment on the legality of Indian citizens joining the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In a case involving Indian travel to Iraq in 2015, the ministry said that allowing Indians to participate in a conflict in another country "will lead to an accusation that the Government of India encourages terrorism in other countries."

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Citizens of which countries can not worry

Germany said it would not pursue volunteers who joined the fighting, while the leaders of Denmark and Latvia said they would allow their citizens to volunteer. Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand believes that this is a "personal decision" for each Canadian, so there will be no persecution.

What is done with foreign prisoners of war

International law requires the Russian military to treat foreign fighters as prisoners of war, regardless of their nationality, said Daphne Richemont-Barak, a professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy in Israel. This means that Russian soldiers must provide captured volunteers with food, water and medical care.

However, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman recently said that Western "mercenaries" fighting on the side of Ukraine would not be treated as prisoners of war, and therefore face prosecution or worse.

Since the volunteers will be fighting in the Ukrainian army, they are unlikely to be charged in their home country for their actions in the war, with the exception of being prosecuted for war crimes or similar behavior, experts say.

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