The UK government is set to label Russian mercenary outfit, Wagner Group, previously led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, as a terrorist organisation.
According to a report by BBC, a draft order is to be laid in parliament that will allow the group’s assets to be categorised as terrorist property and seized.
The report disclosed that Suella Braverman, the home secretary, said Wagner is ‘violent and destructive… a military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia’ and is a ‘threat to global security’ due to its work in Ukraine and Africa.
‘Wagner’s continuing destabilising activities only continue to serve the Kremlin’s political goals,’ Braverman said.
‘They are terrorists, plain and simple — and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law.’
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The announcement comes a few weeks after Prigozhin was declared dead in a plane crash in Russia.
He had mobilised troops in a failed mutiny against the country’s military and President Vladmir Putin.
In July, the UK government announced a slew of sanctions against individuals and businesses involved with the Wagner Group in Mali, Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan.
The sanctions prevented UK citizens, companies and banks from dealing with the group, alongside freezing any assets held and imposing travel bans.
