New sanctions will be coming next week against the group, which the US now believes has about 50,000 personnel deployed in Ukraine, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. The Treasury Department designation will given the administration new authorities to impose financial restrictions on Wagner and those who work for it.
“These actions recognize the trans-continental threat that Wagner poses," Kirby said told a briefing Friday. “Our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is simply this: Wagner is a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human-rights abuses."
The move marked the latest effort to disrupt the group, which has continued to gain in prominence and power around the globe despite a raft of US, UK and European Union sanctions. The group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is considered a major ally and supporter of President Vladimir Putin and his war effort in Ukraine.
Administration officials debated labeling Wagner a foreign terrorist organization but have so far withheld that designation despite urging from some members of Congress.
Kirby said the US is seeing indications of increased tensions between Wagner and Russia’s defense ministry. He said Wagner is “becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries," even as President Vladimir Putin increasingly turns to the group for support.
Russian state television has highlighted the group’s role in Ukraine. In September, video emerged of a man who bears a strong resemblance to Prigozhin offering an early release for prisoners who survive a six-month stint fighting at the front in Ukraine.
In the same briefing, Kirby said the US has evidence that Wagner is receiving deliveries of North Korean munitions and equipment in support of the war effort in Ukraine.
“While the amount of material that’s been delivered won’t change the battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, allies are concerned North Korea could deliver further military equipment," Kirby said. As evidence, he displayed two photographs that purported to show five Russian rail cars traveling between Russia and North Korea.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
