A 49-year-old Pole, Piotr Kucharski, who claimed that he fought against Ukraine on the side of Wagner mercenaries, was jailed in the UK.
The publication The Guardian.
Bragged about his participation in the Wagner PMC
So, on October 28 last year, Petr Kukharsky came to the event to reenact the Suffolk Viking battle in the village of Stongem-Aspal, dressed in combat clothing with the emblems of the banned Wagner PMC group.
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There, a man brandished a dagger in front of those gathered and made a gesture of allegedly cutting a throat. After this, Kukharsky was arrested.
Witnesses said Piotr Kukharski told them he had joined the Wagner Group and fought against Ukraine, a claim he repeated in several Facebook posts.
On Friday, the Old Bailey in England and Wales jailed Piotr Kukharski for two and a half years for admitting he was a member of the banned terrorist organisation Wagner. Kukharski had previously claimed he was only pretending to be a Wagner member.
Kukharski is known to have posed for a PA reporter wearing symbols associated with far-right ideology. He told police he had bought Wagner badges and pinned them to his clothes to provoke a reaction from people at the Suffolk Viking event over differences of opinion over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The judge rejected the claim that Piotr Kukharsky acted only to provoke a reaction from people.
A photograph of Adolf Hitler, a copy of Mein Kampf and other items related to Nazism were found in the man's home.
On social media, Kukharsky distributed images of men in combat uniforms holding weapons and told friends that he was abroad and participating in the conflict.
Recall that in September 2023, the Wagner Group was recognized as a terrorist organization in the UK. Belonging to it or supporting it is now a criminal offence.
Counter-terrorism police said there was no evidence that Kuharsky was a member of the PMC or that he fought in Ukraine, but that his actions were still a serious offence under counter-terrorism laws.
