$50,000 BOUNTY ON MY HEAD..

Rhys named on Kremlin kill list of fighters. Hero faces brutal death if ever captured

- EXCLUSIVE BY JEFF FARRELL

AN Irish soldier in Ukraine who is on a Russian kill list with a $50,000 bounty on his head said he is “guaranteed a slow and brutal death” if captured. 

Rhys Byrne, 28, from Santry, Dublin, is attached to the International Freedom Fighters who operate on the front lines and in territory seized after Putin’s illegal invasion last February.

He is one of more than 400 foreign fighters on the dossier of death drawn up by the Kremlin.

Rhys believes Moscow’s spies compiled the names through their network of spooks in Ukraine.

Kyiv’s own SBU spy chiefs found the catalogue of foreign targets through its network.

Rhys’ name is among 14 Irish names, including one female under the heading Ireland.

He said: “It’s for the capture of anyone on that list who is a foreign fighter. I think they [Russians] just got names and said, ‘Right let’s just scare the foreigners’.

“If I get captured by the Russians, I am guaranteed a slow and brutal death, because I’m covered in anti Russian tattoos.

“If I get captured they consider us war criminals. We would be charged in a Russian court and then executed.

“They wouldn’t get that far with me. They’ll just f***ing kill me.

“If they capture me, I don’t know how that scenario would occur, because when I’m on the frontline I always keep a round [of bullets] for my pistol and rifle for me.

“I also keep a grenade for myself as I don’t plan on getting captured.

“We have an unwritten rule within our units and that is if we saw one of us being captured, if we have a shot to take out our lad, we will.”