Treasury imposes sanctions against Russian paramilitary firm Wagner Group

WASHINGTON – The Biden medication connected Thursday announced a slew of caller sanctions and further measures targeting Russia's backstage subject firm, the Wagner Group, saying it's engaged successful an "ongoing signifier of superior transgression activity" successful Ukraine, Africa and Mali.

The Treasury Department identified the Wagner Group, led by Putin crony Yevgeniy Prigozhin, arsenic a "significant transnational transgression organization."

In the Central African Republic and Mali, Treasury said "Wagner unit person engaged successful an ongoing signifier of superior transgression activity, including wide execution, rape, kid abductions and carnal abuse." It besides stands accused of destabilizing governments successful Africa and targeting women, children and different civilians successful Ukraine, attacking schools and hospitals and forcibly relocating civilians, among different quality rights violations.

Last week, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters astatine the White House that U.S. quality estimates bespeak the Wagner Group has astatine slightest 50,000 unit successful Ukraine, astir of them recruited for the combat from Russian prisons.

"Our connection to immoderate institution that is considering providing enactment to Wagner is simply this, Wagner is simply a transgression enactment that is continuing wide atrocities and quality rights abuses," Kirby added.

Kirby besides slammed North Korean limb deliveries to Russia utilized by Wagner, including infantry rockets and missiles. 

Thursday's sanctions connected six individuals and 12 entities besides people "the infrastructure that supports battlefield operations successful Ukraine, including producers of Russia's weapons and those administering Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine."

Treasury sanctioned Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov, the Russian president of the already-sanctioned Tupolev Public Joint Stock Company, for his enactment successful supporting Moscow's aerospace sector. His wife, Gulsina Akhatovna Minnikhanova was besides designated for accepting bribes.

Additionally, Treasury is imposing sanctions connected aggregate entities and individuals progressive successful the paramilitary group's colossal planetary network.

Joint Stock Company Terra Tech, a Russian-based exertion firm, for providing abstraction and aerial imagery to the Wagner Group. Treasury besides identified China's Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute and its subsidiary Spacety Luxembourg for providing radar outer imagery implicit Ukrainian locations. In addition, Treasury took enactment against Joint Stock Company Research and Production, a Russian abstraction institution supporting Russia's subject activities successful Ukraine.

"As sanctions and export controls connected Russia signifier our planetary conjugation proceed to bite, the Kremlin is desperately searching for arms and enactment — including done the brutal Wagner Group," Treasury Secretary Yellen wrote successful a connection announcing the measures.

"Today's expanded sanctions connected Wagner, arsenic good arsenic caller sanctions connected their associates and different companies enabling the Russian subject complex, volition further impede Putin's quality to limb and equip his warfare machine," she added.

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