The Biden administration plans new restrictions on Russia’s Wagner group in a bid to cripple the private militia accused of atrocities while fighting alongside Kremlin forces in Ukraine.
(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration plans new restrictions on Russia’s Wagner group in a bid to cripple the private militia accused of atrocities while fighting alongside Kremlin forces in Ukraine.
The US Commerce Department is placing export controls on the militia group to restrict its access to technology and equipment, after the US alleged it acquired weapons from North Korea.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Thursday that further sanctions are on the way.
“Just like the Russian government, Wagner has been forced to rely on pariah states to enable its campaign there in Ukraine,” Kirby said.
“We are expanding the Entity Listing of Wagner to ensure it cannot access any equipment anywhere in the world based on US technology or production equipment.”
Kirby said Wagner had accepted a delivery of weapons from North Korea, including infantry rockets and missiles.
“The amount of material delivered to Wagner will not change battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, but we are certainly concerned that North Korea is planning to deliver more military equipment,” Kirby said, adding that the US would raise Pyongyang’s arms shipments at the United Nations Security Council because it violated the council’s resolutions.
The Wagner Group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin — a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — and his militia have already been sanctioned by the US, UK and European Union.
The Biden administration is also weighing whether to designate Wagner as a foreign terrorist organization.
Earlier: US Weighs Terrorism Label for Russia’s Wagner Group Mercenaries
The group’s role in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has grown as the Kremlin increasingly turns to Wagner for military help following setbacks for Russian forces.
German intelligence reportedly intercepted radio exchanges between Russian soldiers discussing killing Ukrainian civilians in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital, Der Spiegel reported in April, adding that the information indicated the Wagner Group may have been involved in the killings.
Kirby said Thursday that Prigozhin is spending more than $100 million per month to fund the group’s operations in Ukraine and that the leader traveled to Russian prisons to recruit convicts to fight on the battlefield.
The administration estimates Wagner has 50,000 personnel on the ground in Ukraine, including 40,000 convicts and 10,000 contractors.
“Wagner is on the ground playing a significant role there where its ill-equipped and ill-trained forces are, quite frankly, suffering heavy casualties,” said Kirby.
“It seems as though Mr.
Prigozhin is willing to just throw Russian bodies into the meat grinder in Bakhmut,” he added referencing a city that has seen heavy fighting.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
