37-year-old Swiss citizen Jonah Neidhart, who fought as a volunteer for Ukraine, voluntarily went to the military police in Worblaufen, in the canton of Bern, on the morning of September 1 to surrender to the authorities.
According to the Swiss outlet Blick, the duty officer did not expect such a visitor and asked whether there was an arrest warrant and whether military prosecutors were really looking for him. Neidhart expected to be taken into custody immediately, but was released two hours later because the investigator was on vacation and he was told to return in two weeks.
The outlet says Neidhart signed a three-year contract with Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade in January 2025. He returned early to Switzerland in June because of his mother’s serious illness. After her death, he decided to turn himself in and described the move as a political statement.
“Switzerland must reconsider its neutrality. I would violate it a hundred more times if that is what it takes to stop Putin,” Neidhart said.
The case is based on Article 94 of Switzerland’s Military Criminal Code. It states that a Swiss citizen who enters foreign military service without authorization from the Federal Council may face up to three years in prison or a fine. The formal designation of the offense concerns weakening the country’s military strength and serving in a foreign army.
As Blick notes, this is not the first such episode in Neidhart’s case. In the summer of 2024, he was already detained in Switzerland for taking part in combat on the side of the Ukrainian armed forces, but during the court proceedings he violated a travel ban and went back to the front. As a result, the outlet says, he could now face up to 4.5 years in prison.
The existence of such proceedings is not unique in Switzerland. By the beginning of 2023, at least seven criminal cases had been opened against citizens suspected of taking part in the war in Ukraine. In March 2025, reports said there were already 14 such investigations. The portal Swissinfo also noted that in the 21st century the country usually handed down one or two verdicts a year in such cases.