UK govt. moves to designate Wagner Group as a terrorist organization

UK govt. moves to designate Wagner Group as a terrorist organization

According to reports from the BBC, the UK government is taking steps to designate the Wagner Group, formerly led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, as a terrorist organization.

A draft order is expected to be presented in parliament, allowing the government to classify the group’s assets as terrorist property and seize them.

Suella Braverman, the UK’s home secretary, stated that Wagner is a “violent and destructive” organization and a “military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.”

She emphasized that the group poses a significant threat to global security due to its activities in Ukraine and Africa.

Braverman asserted that Wagner’s actions serve the Kremlin’s political objectives and described them as terrorists.

ALSO READ: Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin dies in Moscow plane crash

This decision comes in the wake of the reported death of Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in Russia.

Prigozhin had attempted to mobilize troops in a failed mutiny against Russia’s military and President Vladimir Putin.

In July, the UK government had already imposed sanctions on individuals and businesses associated with the Wagner Group in Mali, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Sudan.

These sanctions included restrictions on UK citizens, companies, and banks from engaging with the group, freezing its assets, and imposing travel bans on its members.