The Embassy has been approached by several Australian media outlets regarding the arrest of an Australian citizen from Adelaide who allegedly worked for the Ukraine military as a drone operator without authorisation.

The decision to initiate criminal proceedings against this individual, as far as we understand, has been taken in accordance with Australian law.

The Russian side considers him, as well as several dozen other Australians who had been and are fighting on the side of the Ukrainian armed forces, to be mercenaries.

According to Russian law, a mercenary is a person acting for the purpose of receiving material compensation and who is not a citizen of a state participating in an armed conflict or military actions, does not permanently reside on its territory, and is not a person sent to perform official duties.

Under Part 3 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Mercenarism”), participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict or military actions shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of seven to fifteen years with or without restriction of liberty for a term of up to one year.

At the same time, we emphasise that granting Australian citizens authorisations to work for the Ukrainian armed forces would mean Australia’s direct engagement in the conflict.