Man convicted in UK for declaring support for Wagner Group
A court in the United Kingdom has sentenced a man who claimed to belong to the Wagner Group that fought in Ukraine to two and a half years in prison.
Source: European Pravda with reference to a statement by the UK Crown Prosecution Service
Details: Prosecutor's office said that on 28 October 2023, Piotr Kucharski, 49, attended a Viking battle reenactment event wearing combat clothing with Wagner Group patches.
During the event, Kucharski began to behave aggressively, waving a knife at other participants and making a gesture that demonstrated throat slitting.
Witnesses described him telling them that he had joined the Wagner Group and was fighting for this terrorist organisation in Ukraine, a claim he repeated in various Facebook posts and messages.
During interrogation, he stated that he had bought the patches and his claims to have been fighting for the Wagner Group were to "provoke a reaction" from a group of battle reenactors due to differences in views on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Kucharski attended a hearing on 16 August 2024 at the Central Criminal Court, where he pleaded guilty to wearing various symbols associated with extreme right-wing ideology and white supremacy.
Quote from Frank Ferguson, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division: "Piotr Kucharski claimed to be fighting for the Wagner Group as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and aggressively threatened people with a knife, acting upon his extremist views and the reputation of a terrorist organisation to cause fear in others."
More details: Ferguson noted that the prosecutor's office would always prosecute those who support terrorism in any form.
Background:
- Recently, in the UK, one of the defendants in the case of arson of a business linked to Ukraine in London partially pleaded guilty in court.
- European intelligence services have previously warned that Russia has stepped up its sabotage operations.
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