Watford man jailed over Wagner Group boast at Viking event

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

Piotr Kucharski, 49, from The Glebe, Watford, wore combat clothing and badges with insignia of the Russian mercenary group to the historical event in Stonham Aspal, Suffolk.

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

On Friday at the Old Bailey in London, 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.

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

Witnesses at the Viking event 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.

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.

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.

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

Kucharski 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.

Counter Terrorism Policing said there was no evidence to suggest Kucharski was a legitimate member of the Wagner 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.”