On Wednesday, the UK government announced its plans to designate the Wagner Group, a mercenary organisation with infamous involvement in the Ukraine conflict, as a terrorist organization. With this designation, it will become unlawful for anyone within the UK to either be a member of or support the Wagner Group. The bill was introduced in Parliament on the same day.
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman emphasized in a statement the violent and devastating nature of the Wagner Group, referring to it as “a military tool of Vladimir Putin’s Russia overseas”. Citing instances of looting, torture and murder at the group’s hands in Ukraine and elsewhere, she unequivocally labelled the group as terrorists.
This announcement was preceded by a July 26 report from the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee, prompting the UK government to label the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization, especially following the mercenaries’ decision to halt their advance on Moscow. This call to action was also supported by the main UK opposition party, the Labour Party, back in February.
The Wagner Group, a private military company (PMC), has been involved in multiple conflicts globally, gaining significant attention for its activities in several African nations, Syria and
Ukraine. There is substantial evidence to suggest it operates as a proxy for Russian interests, despite the Russian government never formally acknowledging its association.
In late August, the Wagner Group leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, perished in a plane crash only months after the group halted its march on Moscow. While no criminal charges have been pursued by the Kremlin against Prigozhin, US officials believe the Kremlin may have played a role in the crash.
Two days after Prigozhin’s demise, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an executive order that military units swear an oath of allegiance to the Russian state. As the Wagner Group’s designation passes through Parliament, it is set to become the 79th organization flagged as a terrorist organization by the UK, effective as of September 13.