Russian Wagner mercenary group is classified as a criminal organization by the US

Wagner Mercenaries, a private army that has enlisted tens of thousands of Russian inmates to fight in Ukraine, is now under increased pressure from the United States, which has branded the Wagner Mercenaries as a “transnational criminal organization.”

According to John Kirby, the national security spokesman for the White House, Wagner, which is backed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has roughly 50,000 militants in Ukraine, with 80% of them coming from the Russian penal system.

Kirby referred to Wagner as “a criminal organization that is causing widespread atrocities and violations of human rights.”

Wagner’s supporters will be identified, disrupted, made public, and targeted, he vowed.

Additionally, Kirby displayed images from US intelligence showing North Korea allegedly providing weapons to Wagner for his operations in Ukraine and claimed that the private mercenary force had grown to challenge the official Russian military.

According to Kirby, the images from November 18–19 show Russian rail wagons entering North Korea, loading up with infantry rockets and missiles, and then leaving for Russia. According to him, Wagner has been formally designated by the US Treasury as a transnational criminal organization, joining the Italian mafia, Japanese and Russian organized crime, and other transnational criminal organizations.

The designation will make it possible to apply sanctions to more of the group’s extensive global network, which also includes mercenary operations and companies in Africa and other places.

Wagner’s US assets have been frozen as a result of executive order 13581’s designation of the group as a “Transnational Criminal Organization,” and US citizens are no longer permitted to provide money, goods, or services to the organization.

Kirby added that the US had informed the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee of its intelligence regarding Wagner’s purchases of North Korean weapons. According to him, the UN Security Council resolutions are being directly violated by the North Korean arms deliveries.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of Wagner, this month denied receiving weapons from North Korea and called the report “gossip and speculation.”