USA announced PMC Wagner "criminal organization"

The United States today officially declared the Russian private military company Wagner an international criminal organization and issued an order to freeze its assets in the United States for helping the Russian military in the war in Ukraine.

The White House said last month that the Wagner Group had received a shipment of arms from North Korea to support Russian forces in Ukraine, signaling the group’s expanding role in the conflict. The US government also listed a number of individuals and entities sanctioned for their ties to the Wagner company, which it accuses not only of involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but also of involvement in crimes committed in other countries.

“Wagner associates are involved in ongoing criminal activities including mass executions, rape, child abduction and slander in the Central African Republic and Mali,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement.

“Today’s sanctions against the Wagner group, as well as new sanctions against their partners and other companies supporting the Russian war machine, will further prevent Putin from arming it,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

Simultaneously with the imposition of sanctions against Wagner, the US Department of the Treasury added the names of 19 Russians to the sanctions list, including Deputy Prime Minister Denis Madurov, Governor of Tatarstan Rustam Minikhanov and his wife Gulshina Minikhanova, Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Arkady Gostev, Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service in Rostov Dmitry Bezrukiy, head of the administration of the President of the State Council Alexander Kharichev and the founder of the telecommunications company Skarlet under the Yota brand Sergey Antoniev. Sanctions were also imposed on the head of the Kalashnikov concern, Alan Luznikov.

The sanctions list also includes Russian companies in the shipbuilding and military industries – the Almaz-Antey concern and its CEO Yan Novikov, the transport airline Aviakon Chitotrans and some of its aircraft, as well as a number of companies associated with Rostec. The sanctions list also included two yachts named “Addiction” and “Natta”, which are associated with businessman Antoniev.

Source link