US Treasury imposes sanctions against Russian paramilitary firm Wagner Group

The Biden administration on Thursday announced a slew of fresh sanctions and additional measures targeting Russia’s private military firm, the Wagner Group, saying it’s engaged in an “ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity” in Ukraine and Africa, Report informs via CNBC.

The Treasury Department identified the Wagner Group, led by Putin crony Yevgeniy Prigozhin, as a “significant transnational criminal organization.”

In the Central African Republic and Mali, Treasury said “Wagner personnel have engaged in an ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity, including mass execution, rape, child abductions and physical abuse.” It also stands accused of destabilizing governments in Africa and targeting women, children and other civilians in Ukraine, attacking schools and hospitals and forcibly relocating civilians, among other human rights violations.

Last week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House that US intelligence estimates indicate the Wagner Group has at least 50,000 personnel in Ukraine, most of them recruited for the fight from Russian prisons.

Thursday’s sanctions on six individuals and 12 entities also target “the infrastructure that supports battlefield operations in Ukraine, including producers of Russia’s weapons and those administering Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.”

Treasury sanctioned Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov, the Russian chairman of the already-sanctioned Tupolev Public Joint Stock Company, for his work in supporting Moscow’s aerospace sector. His wife, Gulsina Akhatovna Minnikhanova was also designated for accepting bribes.

Additionally, Treasury is imposing sanctions on multiple entities and individuals involved in the paramilitary group’s colossal global network.