20 Years in Prison for Helping an Ally?

By John Ogilvie

Yesterday a story broke that perfectly illustrates just how ridiculous some of our laws have become.

A 25-year-old Australian Army reservist from Adelaide has been arrested for serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a drone operator between May 2025 and January 2026.

He is being charged under Section 115A of the Defence Act 1903 , specifically for serving in a foreign military without authorisation. If convicted, he could spend the next 20 years in prison.

Why?

The law’s stated purpose is to stop Australian Defence Force personnel from joining the armies of strategic rivals and to prevent rogue diplomatic incidents. Fair enough in principle. But in this case the justification collapses completely.

Ukraine is an ally. Australia has supplied them with over $1.5 billion in military aid (including lethal weapons), and the ADF has trained thousands of Ukrainian soldiers through Operation Kudu. Australia has placed numerous sanctions on Russia, and repeatedly condemned its invasion.

The reservist wasn’t acting on behalf of the Australian government. He wasn’t pretending to represent Canberra. He simply chose, of his own free will, to take up arms against an aggressor that our own government has publicly opposed.

The only ‘crime’ here appears to be that he is a reservist who didn’t fill out the right paperwork first.

This is not protecting national security. This is bureaucratic overreach at its most tone-deaf. The law was never meant to punish Australians who step up to help genuine allies under attack. It was meant to stop them helping enemies. Treating a volunteer who fought for a nation we officially support as some kind of traitor makes a mockery of common sense and fairness.

With any luck the case will be thrown out of court. If it isn’t, we can only hope for jury nullification.

Backbone Australia will keep following this story closely. If helping our allies is now illegal, then something has gone badly wrong with the law, not with the reservist who showed courage when it counted.