The Wagner Group has been fighting in Russia’s interests for years, including in Ukraine. The British government said it was involved in torture and murder – and wants to classify the mercenaries as a terrorist group.
The British government wants to declare the Russian mercenary group Wagner a terrorist organization. According to the Home Office, a corresponding draft law is to be submitted to Parliament in London. This makes membership and support of the mercenary group a punishable offense and their assets can be confiscated.
“Wagner is a violent and destructive organization that functions as a military instrument of (President) Vladimir Putin’s Russia abroad,” said Interior Secretary Suella Braverman. The private army is said to be involved in looting, torture and barbaric murders. Their “operations in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa pose a threat to global security,” Braverman said. “They are terrorists, plain and simple.”
Braverman’s move follows a recommendation from the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Commons in July. The committee has accused the government of underestimating and downplaying the danger posed by Wagner.
London has already imposed sanctions on Prigozhin
Wagner was commanded by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash in Russia a few weeks ago. The group has played an important role since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February 2022. She is accused of war crimes – also in other countries, for example in Africa, where she is deployed.
Britain had already imposed sanctions on Prigozhin himself and several of his key commanders for their involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine.