The UK government has decided to outlaw Wagner, the Russian private military company that is involved in conflicts in Libya, Ukraine and Africa, and designate it as a terrorist organization.
The BBC website reported that the government will soon introduce a project to Parliament that will criminalize any involvement or support for Wagner. The project will also enable the government to confiscate and freeze Wagner’s assets.
The British Government announced that it considered Wagner as an instrument of Russia’s foreign policy under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin. The group has been involved in violent and destructive activities in various regions, where it had allegedly pursued the Kremlin’s political interests.
The UK’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman condemned Wagner as a clear terrorist group that threatens global security. “This proposed ban order will make that clear in UK law,” she said. Meanwhile, other Western countries such as Italy have expressed their concern regarding Wagner’s role in increasing illegal immigration flows from Libya to Europe by exploiting the Libyan coasts.
The UK’s proposal comes weeks after the death of Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, ,in a plane crash over the Tver region west of Moscow last month. His deputy Dmitry Utkin was also among the 10 people who died in the crash.
