Viking enactment fan jailed over Wagner Group boast

A builder has been jailed for claiming at a Viking re-enactment that he had fought for the Wagner Group in Ukraine.

Piotr Kucharski, 49, wore combat clothing with badges with insignia for the proscribed terror organisation to the event in Stonham Aspal, in Suffolk.

He was arrested after becoming aggressive, brandishing a dagger at attendees and making a throat slitting gesture on October 28 last year.

Witnesses said the Polish national, who was living in the UK, had told them he had joined the Wagner Group and fought for the organisation in Ukraine.

He had repeated the same claim in several Facebook posts and in messages to contacts.

On Friday at the Old Bailey, Kucharski was jailed for two-and-a-half years with a further year on extended licence for professing to be a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation.

In August, Kucharski had admitted the offence before posing for a photo for a reporter from the PA news agency while wearing symbols associated with extreme right-wing ideology and white supremacy.

In a police interview, Kucharski had said he had purchased Wagner Group badges and attached them to clothing to “provoke a reaction” from people at the re-enactment event because of differences in opinion regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A picture of Adolf Hitler, a copy of Mein Kampf and other fascist memorabilia was found at his home.

He shared images of men in combat outfits holding weapons on social media and told contacts he was abroad and engaged in conflict.

Sentencing, Judge Mark Lucraft KC told the defendant: “In relation to the items found at your home, you said you were interested in Second World War memorabilia, that you had purchased ‘Mein Kampf’ because you thought it to be a sound financial investment, and the painting of Hitler was on display to prevent it from becoming damaged by mould in storage.

“Whilst I accept the freedom of expression and of speech that is a benefit of living in the UK, what concerns me here is the lack of understanding on your part of the impact of some of what you were saying and doing.”

Kucharski, of The Glebe, Watford, had previously claimed he was only “pretending” to be a member of the terror organisation as he entered his guilty pleas.

The judge rejected a claim Kucharski had acted out of “foolish bravado” to provoke a reaction.

The Wagner Group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in September 2023, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group in the UK.

Counter Terrorism Policing have said that there is no evidence to suggest Kucharski was a legitimate member of the group or that he had fought in Ukraine, but that purporting to be a member of a proscribed organisation is a serious offence under terror laws.

Frank Ferguson, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “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.

“The CPS will always seek to prosecute those who support terrorism in any way.”