Conor Kennedy, RFK's grandson and Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriend, says he went to fight in Ukraine and was 'willing to die there'
- Conor Kennedy says he fought on the northeastern front of the Ukraine war.
- Kennedy said he kept his real name private when fighting with Ukraine's International Legion.
Conor Kennedy says he volunteered to fight in the Ukraine war and was "willing to die there."
Kennedy is best known for being Robert F. Kennedy's grandson and singer Taylor Swift's one-time boyfriend back in 2012. In an Instagram post on October 14, he wrote that he joined Ukraine's International Legion of foreign fighters this year.
"Going in, I had no prior military experience and wasn't a great shot, but I could carry heavy things and learned fast," he wrote. "I was also willing to die there. So they soon agreed to send me to the northeastern front."
Kennedy said he "liked being a soldier" more than he'd expected to before enlisting, but left the fighting eventually.
"My friends there know why I had to come home. l'll always owe them for their example," he wrote on Instagram. "I know I'm lucky I made it back, but I would also take all the risks we took over again."
Kennedy wrote in his post that he only told one person in the US where he'd gone, and kept his real name private when in Ukraine.
"I didn't want my family or friends to worry, and I didn't want to be treated differently there," Kennedy wrote.
Kennedy did not specify when he joined and left the legion. Representatives for the International Legion did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Insider was not independently able to verify Kennedy's claims.
The International Legion is a prominent organization of volunteer foreign fighters in the country. It was set up days after Russia's invasion on February 24. At the time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked foreign volunteers to join the organization and help defend Ukraine "against the Russian war criminals."
Back in April, former MSNBC analyst Malcolm Nance joined the legion. Nance went on MSNBC in combat gear and said he was "done talking" about the war and wanted to "take action." Around 20,000 foreign fighters are believed to have joined the legion.
Several American citizens have died or gone missing in action while fighting in Ukraine.
Kennedy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.