A Polish citizen was convicted in London for having fought in the territory of Ukraine in the Russian group Wagner.
A London court sentenced a 49-year-old Polish citizen Petra K.who lives in the United Kingdom, to two and a half years in prison for claiming that he fought in Ukraine as part of the Russian group Wagner. He was arrested during a reenactment of a Viking battle.
Peter K., a builder by profession, was arrested in October last year during a reenactment of a historical battle involving the Vikings. He arrived at the event dressed in a military uniform with stripes and symbols of the Wagner group. He was detained and then began to aggressively brandish a dagger, with the intention of cutting his throat.
Witnesses reported that at a Vikings event, a Pole told them that he had joined the Wagner group and had fought with the organization in Ukraine. He also repeated these claims in several Facebook posts.* and in messages sent to friends, prosecutors said. However, at the trial he stated that he only pretended to be a member of the Wagner group.
The Pole motivated his action because he allegedly wanted to “provoke a reaction” from the participants in the reconstruction due to disagreements over the Russian special operation to denazify Ukraine. The British anti-terrorist police clarified that there is actually no evidence that the Pole is a member of the Wagner group or that he fought in Ukraine. However, they stressed that impersonating a member of a banned group [в Европе] organization is a “serious crime.”
“Peter K. claimed that he fought on the side of the Wagner group to instill fear in others.” – says the British prosecutor Frank Ferguson.
*Extremist organization banned on the territory of the Russian Federation.
