The United States is demanding the extradition of a rogue U.S. soldier, accused of killing a Florida couple in 2018, from Ukraine, where he is considered a hero.

Craig Lang was discharged from the U.S. military after going AWOL and has been living in Ukraine on and off since 2015.

After landing in Ukraine, Lang distinguished himself as a mercenary working with paramilitary units in the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia. He is engaged to a Ukrainian woman and his military service has made him a local hero.

It was in Ukraine in 2015 where Lang met Alex Zwiefelhofer. The pair left the country in 2017 for South Sudan hoping to fight the terrorist group Al-Shabbab. After being denied entry the pair ended up back in the U.S. where the plotted about potentially signing up with resistance fighters in Venezuela.

On April 9, 2018, Prosecutors say Lang and Zwiefelhofer gunned down Serafin Lorenzo and his wife, Deana, who were meeting to discuss an arms purchase in Florida. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found in their car in the parking lot of a nearby church in Lee County.

Zwiefelhofer was arrested in May after being busted after attempting to buy a gun in Wisconsin.

After the murders of Serafin and Deana, Lang made his way to Mexico, Colombia and Spain before ultimately being arrested at the Ukraine/Moldova border.

The U.S. has no extradition treaty with Ukraine.

“We know that in the US, he is very negative person in mass media,” Dmitry Morgun, Lang’s defense lawyer, told NBC News. “In Ukraine, he is not. In Ukraine, he was a hero. He defends our interests and our country.”

Lang’s defense team has also played to local sympathies. The fugitive is seeking asylum in Ukraine arguing that President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have “close ties” and that the US was only seeking his return “at the request of the Russian government.”

Florida law enforcement disagree.

“We take this very personally,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told NBC. “If you commit a crime in this county, you can run. You can’t hide. We are going to find you. You’re coming back. You’re going behind bars.”

Lang has denied the charges against him.

Legal wrangling between the two nations over Lang’s case is expected to take years.