The United States recognizes the Russian PMC 'Wagner' as a transnational criminal organization

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is designating the Russian mercenary organization, the private military company (PMC) Wagner, as a transnational criminal organization and will impose additional sanctions next week against the PMC and its network around the world. Writes about it CNN.

Photo: IStock

“These actions recognize the transcontinental threat posed by PMC Wagner, including in connection with the ongoing serious criminal activity,” John Kirby, National Security Council strategic communications coordinator, told reporters.

Along with the new sanctions, the US released recently declassified photos of Russian railcars en route from Russia to North Korea and back in November, which the US believes was the delivery of infantry rockets and missiles for use by the Wagner Group mercenary organization in Ukraine.

While the US does not believe the equipment has changed the dynamics of fighting in Ukraine, Kirby said, the United States expects North Korea to continue delivering such weapons systems to Russia. The Russian Federation also received equipment, including drones, from Iran as its military stocks dwindled during the war.

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"Arms shipments from North Korea are in direct violation of a UN Security Council resolution," Kirby said, noting that the US had shared its intelligence with the Security Council's North Korean sanctions panel.

A senior intelligence official said the West is "certainly concerned that North Korea may be planning to expand and supply more military hardware."

Tensions between the Russian military and a group of mercenaries

More broadly, the US estimates that tensions between the Russian Defense Ministry and the Wagner Group are rising as Russian President Vladimir Putin increasingly relies on PMCs to fight in Ukraine. According to Kirby, about 50 Wagner Group fighters are currently stationed in Ukraine, including 000 contract soldiers and 10 convict recruits.

"Wagner is becoming a center of power, competing with the Russian military and other Russian ministries," Kirby said, and the US has evidence suggesting that the Russian Defense Department objects to Wagner's massive recruitment from Russian prisons.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, complained that the Russian Ministry of Defense had failed in the military operations and that Wagner fighters should be given more equipment, powers and autonomy in the war in Ukraine.

A senior US official said the Wagner PMC has lost thousands of fighters in Ukraine in the past two months alone, especially in operations around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. But they have proven more effective than the Russian military in some areas, Pentagon officials said.

Tensions between the Kremlin military and Wagner PMC leaders are rising amid public complaints from mercenaries that they are running out of equipment and reports that their leader Prigozhin wants to take control of the lucrative salt mines near Bakhmut.

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In a video released by Russian state media, the Wagnerites complain that they are running out of combat vehicles, artillery shells and ammunition, limiting their ability to capture Bakhmut. Prigogine blames "internal bureaucracy and corruption" for this.

The US believes that Prigozhin's open defiance of the Russian Ministry of Defense is an attempt to create positive publicity for himself.

“Prigozhin is trying to promote his interests in Ukraine,” Kirby said. “And the Wagner PMC makes military decisions based mainly on what will create a positive reputation for Prigozhin.”

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