Ukrainians who fled their country at war and claiming to be victims of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner will launch legal action in the United Kingdom against the organization, reputedly close to the Moscow regime, one of the lawyers representing them announced on Tuesday.
This action "
on behalf of courageous Ukrainian victims
" against the Wagner group and its leader Evguéni Prigojine "
will be brought before the High Court in London
" and aims to seek financial reparations, said Jason McCue, of the law firm McCue Jury and Partners, during a hearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British House of Commons.
“
It is the first time in the world that Wagner and their ilk have been sued by victims for terrorism, the use of weapons of war and for Putin's illegal war
,” he added.
"
This is a historic moment, but other actions will soon begin in the United States and the United Kingdom
," he said.
The Wagner group has been suspected for years by Westerners of carrying out the base works of the Kremlin in various theaters of operation, which Moscow has always denied.
But Yevgeny Prigojine, a businessman close to the Kremlin, admitted at the end of September that he had founded Wagner in 2014, calling the organization a "
pillar
" of the defense of Russian interests.
His presence in Ukraine dates back to 2014, when his men were reported alongside pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.
Initially not very present at the start of the Russian invasion of the country in February 2022, Wagner's mercenaries have, according to experts, now become essential auxiliaries for the Russian army, which has suffered significant defeats in recent weeks.
Its mercenaries, whose presence has been documented for eight years in Syria in support of the Assad regime, and in Libya, are also currently present, particularly in the Central African Republic and Mali, where they are regularly accused of abuses against civilian populations.