Copyright © 2021 Euromaidanpress.com

The work of Euromaidan Press is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation

When referencing our materials, please include an active hyperlink to the Euromaidan Press material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. To reprint anything longer, written permission must be acquired from [email protected].

Privacy and Cookie Policies.

US designates Russia’s Wagner group a transnational criminal organization

A chevron of Wagner Group, a unit of Russian military intelligence (fka GRU) posing as a private military company used to conduct combat operations abroad as part of Russia's hybrid warfare.
A chevron of Wagner Group, a unit of Russian military intelligence (fka GRU) posing as a private military company used to conduct combat operations abroad as part of Russia’s hybrid warfare.

On 26 January, the US Treasury Department introduced new sanctions against the Russian mercenary group Wagner and officially designated it as a transnational criminal organization, according to the press release by the US Treasury Department.

The US Treasury Department labeled Russia’s Wagner private military company (PMC) as a transnational criminal organization responsible for widespread human rights abuses and war crimes. Wagner personnel have engaged in an ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity, including mass executions, rape, child abductions, and physical abuse in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, the US Treasury Department stated in its press release issued on 26 January 2023. New sanctions will be imposed against PMC Wagner which actively aids the Russian regular army in the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin’s crony Prigozhin wants control over salt and gypsum mines around Bakhmut – Reuters

The US-imposed sanctions will target Wagner’s key infrastructure across the world, including an aviation firm used by Wagner, a Wagner propaganda organization, and Wagner front companies, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed.

“As Russia’s military has struggled on the battlefield, Putin has resorted to relying on the Wagner Group to continue his war of choice. The Wagner Group has also meddled and destabilized countries in Africa, committing widespread human rights abuses and extorting natural resources from their people,” the US Treasury Department stated.

Early before, the US released newly declassified photos of Russian railcars traveling from Russia to North Korea and back in November, in what the US believes was the initial delivery of infantry rockets and missiles for use by the mercenary organization Wagner Group in Ukraine.

Apart from new sanctions against Wagner,  the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took additional steps to degrade Russia’s capacity to wage the war against Ukraine by sanctioning six individuals and 12 entities, including producers of Russia’s weapons and those administering Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

Related: 

You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.  We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. A little bit goes a long way: for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, you can help build bridges between Ukraine and the rest of the world, plus become a co-creator and vote for topics we should cover next. Become a patron or see other ways to support. Become a Patron!
Total
0
Shares
Related Posts