Makdonald Dzhozef Filipp (McDonald Joseph Philip)

In the occupied part of the Kherson region in December 2024, a criminal case for mercenary activities was opened against 41-year-old Ukrainian Armed Forces volunteer from Great Britain, Joseph McDonald. According to the Russian investigation, in March 2022, McDonald arrived in Ukraine, where he voluntarily joined the first infantry battalion "Volkodav" of the International Legion as a mercenary. He underwent military training aimed at acquiring skills in handling combat weapons, training in strategy, tactics and methods of conducting combat operations necessary for participation in an armed conflict, during which he was provided with food and other material support. In October 2022, McDonald left the territory of Ukraine and returned home. After that, from July 2023 to January 2025, he returned to the combat zone again and, in the position of a reconnaissance spotter in the 124th separate territorial defense brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, took part in hostilities against military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson regions, and the Donetsk People's Republic. For the specified actions, he received a monetary reward of more than 2.1 million rubles. The Basmanny District Court of Moscow issued an in absentia arrest warrant for McDonald at the end of November 2024. On April 18, 2025, the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic found Joseph Philip McDonald guilty and sentenced him in absentia to 14.5 years of imprisonment to be served in a strict regime penal colony. The verdict was not appealed and entered into legal force.