The US has designated Russia’s Wagner mercenary group as a “Transnational Criminal Organisation,” the private army has around 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80% drawn from Russia’s prison system.
The US can now apply a wider range of sanctions and freeze any US assets of Wagner. US nationals are prohibited from providing funds, goods or services to the group.
US national security spokesperson John Kirby accuses North Korea of supplying arms to the group and claims Wagner has become a rival to the Russian military.
The designation puts the Wagner group in the same league as the Italian mafia and Japanese and Russian organised crime.
