Who brought the case to court, the owner? Or was it his insurance agency, which reserves the right to sue to coner their exposure?
I find most stories about legal matters are pretty scanty in relevant details. Generally the insurance contract allows the recoupment action, the surrogation action, to be brought in the name of the policyholder, although the insurance company can sue in its own name as well. BUT lots of insurance contracts have exclusions for acts of war, police actions, civil unrest, etc.
No idea if that’s in play here