01 Nov The Ukrainian People versus Wagner Group

We back and support this civil society lawfare team and their campaign. It brings great pleasure that from when we first met to discuss this campaign, it has now come to life through this first of hopefully many of its cases around the world. This is not just about trying every possible route to find fair reparations for our people who have suffered from the terrible crimes of Wagner and Putin’s illegal war, but also about our people fighting back through law and justice for accountability against criminals who have no respect for law or humanity. I want to commend all Ukrainians that participate in and support this case and campaign. We must deploy such lawfare on the battlefield against the criminal enemies of the Ukrainian people.

Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP said:

The UK can be proud of the military, financial and diplomatic support we are giving to Ukraine—and also of the efforts of British lawyers to prosecute Putin’s war criminals. We are sending a message to every part of his war machine—that they face the threat of sanctions and prosecution for the rest of their lives.

Yuriy Chumak, Ukrainian Supreme Court Judge and member of the civil society lawfare campaign working group within Mryia (a Territorial Defence Unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine consisting of leading senior judges, law professors, government officials and members of the Ukrainian Parliament) said:

We are delighted to see the Ukrainian and international legal sectors working together to seek justice, accountability, and reparations for Ukrainians. We support the action and other planned cases in the civil society lawfare campaign. This is an important step for Ukrainians and one we should all support. It is of significant importance for distinguished courts around the world to provide access to justice for Ukrainians in their hour of need and for such courts to consider the injustices, illegality, and terrorism Ukraine has faced from Russia’s invasion.

Major General Kyrylo Budanov—Head of the Defence Intelligence Service of Ukraine said:

We salute this action and thank the Ukrainians that join and support this case and their campaign, thereby playing a critical supportive role during this time of war. We face, daily, Wagner terrorism on the ground. We welcome that this action and the terrorism inflicted on Ukrainians will now be considered by a distinguished court and that ordinary Ukrainian victims are pursuing a just route to deserved reparations. Russia has used Wagner to terrorize the population by threatening and committing actions that are unacceptable and illegal under domestic law and the rules of international law such as the Geneva Convention. This action will show the world the truth of Putin and Wagner’s illegal actions and help to achieve justice for their victims.

Sergiy Taruta, People’s Deputy of Ukraine said:

I appreciate civil society efforts against PMC Wagner Group and its founder Y. Prigozhin in the High Court of London. I am convinced that we must unite the efforts of civil activists, and international and Ukrainian lawyers, synchronize the efforts of the state of Ukraine and all civilized countries of the world and hold PMCs Wagner and Prigozhin, Putin’s closest ally, accountable. They are responsible for war crimes against humanity, genocide, terror, murder and torture not only in Ukraine but also in Syria, Mali, Libya, CAR and other African countries. This time, we will not let them avoid responsibility for the death of more than a hundred thousand Ukrainians in the city of Mariupol, for torture and violence in Bucha, Irpin and other Ukrainian cities, for a chemical attack in Syria, a massacre in the village of Morua, and a troll factory, posing a threat to national security and stability around the world.

Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat said:

Yevgeny Prigozhin has made it clear that Wagner will be a significant factor in the future of Russia, so it's essential to address their criminal acts across the globe. This action is hopefully the first step to holding them and their backers to account.

Jason McCue of McCue Jury & Partners LLP said:

A large international team of lawyers and investigators have worked together to develop this and other strong claims in courts around the world to provide a civil society response to Putin’s terror and illegal war. This is the first step in a broader civil society lawfare campaign that, with the help of ordinary people around the world through crowdfunding, will seek to demonstrate that justice will prevail, the guilty will pay for their crimes, and that the rule of law can strike a mighty blow against Putin’s war-machine. Wagner have terrorised the international scene for too long, in Syria, Mali, CAR and Libya. Putin’s deployment of their terrorism in Ukraine was just a further extension of his use of terrorism abroad in pursuit of his aggressive foreign policies. This action is about accountability and just reparations against Putin’s state-sponsored terrorism.

Matthew Jury of McCue Jury & Partners LLP said:

Ordinary professional soldiers do not target civilians, use rape as a weapon of war, torture captives and plant explosives around nuclear facilities, all to create fear and panic in a civilian population to cause them to flee their homes and their country. That Wagner, a criminal organisation, and its members wantonly committed such crimes in Ukraine demonstrates they are closer to terrorists than soldiers and more akin to ISIS than any legitimate armed forces.

Sergii Shkliar, Founding Partner at Arzinger and former Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine said:

This case is the first such attempt to prosecute persons involved in military aggression against Ukraine, in particular, in a foreign jurisdiction. Despite all the difficulties, including certain gaps in the legislation of Ukraine, we still understand that this is a huge step forward in strengthening the principles of justice and the inevitability of punishment. We welcome and support this action as a logical consequence of several months of joint work.

Jason Wright, Partner at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP said:

Prigozhin has brought war to American soil—first, he tried to alter the 2016 U.S. elections through a coordinated campaign of creating false social media accounts that spewed hate to divide the American public. Even after facing sanctions and a criminal indictment in the U.S., he hasn’t stopped. His private mercenaries, the Wagner Group, have committed terrorist acts and war crimes in Ukraine with the sole purpose of creating global disorder by impacting the availability of energy and food around the world, to include in the U.S. Americans are always ready to answer the call—whether on the battlefield or in the courtroom.

Professor Charles T Kotuby, Jr., University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Durham Law School said:

The process of rebuilding Ukraine goes hand-in-hand with holding Russia to account for its actions. This suit is just the beginning of the process, which will require holistic and novel approaches to litigation, arbitration and lawfare.

Henry Robinson, Operations Manager, Justice Register said:

We are expecting a flood of enquiries from Ukrainian friends in the UK and overseas who wish to join this case or others in the campaign. This process will take time at the beginning with the resources we have—we thank you for your patience—but Justice Register will work tirelessly to ensure that your access to justice is as fast and as simple as is possible.