UK to declare Russia’s PMC Wagner a terrorist organization
London, Sep 6 (EFE).- The British government announced on Wednesday it will designate the Russian mercenary group Wagner as a terrorist organization, claiming the outfit remains “a threat to global security.”
The UK’s Interior Ministry said that a draft order, set to be presented to the parliament, will categorize the Wagner Group as “a terrorist organization” due to its alleged involvement in acts of looting, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
The proscription order would also bar membership or support for PMC (private military company) Wagner, which had played a significant role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Once approved, the measure will enable UK authorities to confiscate the assets of the Wagner Group as “terrorist property,” as stated by the Home Ministry.
“Wagner is a violent and destructive organization that has acted as a military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia overseas,” UK’s home secretary Suella Braverman said in a statement.
Braverman insisted the group’s destabilizing activities only serve Kremlin’s political goals.
“They are terrorists, plain and simple – and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law,” she added.
Braverman accused the private military company of being involved in looting, torture and “barbarous murders”, adding that its operations in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa “are a threat to global security.”
“That is why we are proscribing this terrorist organization and continuing to aid Ukraine wherever we can in its fight against Russia,” she underlined.
The announcement by the British government comes weeks after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash near Moscow in August.
The incident occurred just two months after Prigozhin led a brief mutiny against Russia’s military leadership, challenging Putin’s authority. EFE
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