Swiss military justice has initiated 24 proceedings against Swiss citizens suspected of fighting in Ukraine, one on the Russian side and 23 on the Ukrainian side. These volunteers include Jona Neidhardt, 36, from Zurich. Recently returned after spending two years on the Ukrainian front, she criticized the “hypocrisy of Switzerland” in the face of this conflict.
Back in Switzerland for two months, Jona Neidhardt says he is proud to be a Ukrainian and to have fought for freedom. Today, he considers himself a miracle that, despite the brutality of the conflict, he suffered neither war injuries nor psychological consequences.
“The Russians are too numerous and do not respect any rules on the battlefield. This means that we have to fight against an enemy that is absolutely brutal and without conscience,” he testified on RTS at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
faced with the surprise of the invasion
Shocked by the Russian invasion in March 2022, Jona Neidhardt, then 34 years old, abandoned her university studies in Bern to enlist in the Ukrainian army’s internationalist force, “Slava Ukraina.”
He served for two years in the “Bravo” company, where there were heavy losses. “One of my comrades died in November last year. We had to recover his body,” he says.
Despite the horrors, he claims to understand the reasons for their fight, and did not lose his motivation on the battlefield. As they crossed the liberated territories, Ukrainian citizens were extremely grateful: “They thanked us and said that they finally felt free from these ‘Russian monsters’, it was really fantastic.” In Ukraine, Jonah Neidhardt believes that they fought for democracy.
From the front line to justice
On June 13, the Zurich resident returned to Switzerland and voluntarily submitted himself to military justice, as it is illegal to fight for a foreign army in our country. He is expected to receive a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
According to him, this gives him the opportunity to raise public awareness about the absurdity of condemning someone who is fighting for a just cause, on which, in his eyes, the whole West and also Switzerland depends.
However, it is not certain that Swiss military justice will have such a heavy hand. Punishment could be limited to a fine. Indeed, the motivation of a Swiss citizen serving in a foreign military may influence the determination of punishment.
Writing as a weapon of denunciation
While awaiting his trial, he is prohibited from leaving Switzerland, a situation he finds difficult. He would like to be able to do much more, because in his eyes, “every day, innocent people are killed, genocide is committed by the Russians.”
Now, he has continued his fight in a book in which he denounces the lack of Western military equipment supplied to Ukraine.
TV subject: Julien Guillaume
Adaptation web: Miroslav Mares