RFK Jr.'s Frustration Turned to Pride After Son Conor Explained Why He Secretly Fought in Ukraine

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is opening up about his son Conor Kennedy's surprise decision to fight in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

Conor, the 28-year-old grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, recently shared in a lengthy Instagram post that he traveled to Ukraine to help defend the nation, saying he was "deeply moved" by the situation and was "willing to die there" if it came to it.

Conor traveled to Ukraine without alerting his family, telling Robert and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, only that he was not going to be taking a summer job with a Los Angeles law firm as planned.

"We asked him when he was starting [the job at the law firm]," Robert tells PEOPLE. "He had a good job and we were looking forward to having him stay with us. And he told us that he had given notice to the law firm and he was doing something else instead."

According to Robert, Conor told the couple, "Listen, I know this is going to be difficult for you but I don't want you to ask me what I'm doing. I'm doing something that I want to do and [something that] I believe in and and I don't want you to ask about it."

So the couple did as asked, though their suspicions began to mount when they saw a credit card bill linked to Conor's account that showed a charge made in Poland.

A few days later, they saw another charge — this time in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, at the Polish border, Conor was trying to cross in to Ukraine. As Robert explains, Conor met another American, who told the younger Kennedy that he would likely be able to enter and fight due to his height and build (his father describes Conor as "6-foot-5 and pure muscle").

Though he had no military training previously, Conor was quickly assigned to a special forces unit that Robert says included soldiers from Ukraine, NATO countries, and a couple of Americans. While no U.S. soldiers are officially stationed in the country, some — like Conor — have taken matters into their own hands, though the United States advises against traveling to Ukraine right now as a handful of foreign nationals have been trapped, captured or killed.

Without any experience, Conor was first trained to operate drones. "That job was pretty dangerous," Robert says. "The Russians have technology that allows them to spot you when you turn on the drones, so they can electronically see the pilot and then target the pilot with artillery, which kills anything within 100 yards."

Conor was unharmed and, within weeks, promoted to another job: machine gun operator.

"He got a tripod-mounted machine gun that had to carry 1,000 rounds of ammunition," Robert says. "He was big enough and strong enough to carry that gun."

Conor made it through the two months without being harmed — and with the assistance of a group of soldiers with whom he grew close.

Still, as Conor explained in his recent instagram post, those who were fighting alongside the Kennedy didn't know who he was — or that his family includes a past president, senators, and a U.S. attorney general.

"I told one person [in the U.S.] where I was, and I told one person [in Ukraine] my real name. I didn't want my family or friends to worry, and I didn't want to be treated differently there," Conor wrote.

As Robert tells PEOPLE, that "one person" only learned Conor's identity after the group began exchanging social media handles.

"They started asking everyone's social media addresses and Conor didn't want to give his," Robert says. "So people were suspicious of him, and asking why he wouldn't. And the guy who was his closest friend — who was kind of in the foxhole with him most of the time — he ended up telling him."

After what Robert says was two-and-a-half months spent in Ukraine, Conor made his way out, calling his dad when he arrived in Brazil.

"He had just landed," Robert remembers. "He promised that when he came back he would tell me what he was up to."

Robert — who has spoken passionately about his thoughts on the military industrial complex — admits that he and Conor haven't seen eye to eye on the war in Ukraine.

"When he got back, I kind of expressed some — I don't know — whether it's anger or whatever," Robert tells PEOPLE. "He said to me, when he heard maybe a little bit of anger and concern, 'Dad, this is what you taught me to do: to stand up for what I believe in.' And I was like 'Okay.'"

Robert continues: "I'm very proud of this. Of my son. And I knew his views about the war were not aligned with mine. Although he's not naive at all about it. He knows Ukraine has problems and he understands ... that there's corruption. But he doesn't like Putin. He thinks he's a gangster and a bully and he doesn't like bullies."

"He'd been arguing vociferously for the U.S. intervention and he didn't want to be one of these people supporting a war and sitting on the sidelines," Robert adds.

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Now back in America, Conor is missing the friendships he made in Ukraine. He's continuing law school at Georgetown, where he's in his final year.

"I don't anticipate he's going to have a hard time readjusting," he says. "It was high intensity, but I think he's going to be fine."

As Robert puts it, Conor was moved "by the invincible spirit of the Ukrainian people and by their courage. It really inspired him."

The Russian attack on Ukraine is an evolving story, with information changing quickly. Follow PEOPLE's complete coverage of the war here, including stories from citizens on the ground and ways to help.