New Delhi
Russian mercenary group Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin wrote a short letter to the White House on Saturday (January 21) asking what crime his group is accused of after the United States imposed new sanctions on the group and declared it a transnational criminal organisation. Taking to Telegram, Prigozhin's press service addressed a letter to the White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. "Dear Mr Kirby, Could you please clarify what crime was committed by PMC Wagner?" the letter read, a report by news agency Reuters said early Sunday (January 22).
Wagner, which has been supporting Russia in its offensive on Ukraine, has claimed credit for many battlefield advances. The mercenary group has also been involved in conflicts in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
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On Friday, the White House announced that it would impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support across multiple continents. "These actions recognise the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity," John Kirby told reporters as he designated the group as a "transnational criminal organisation".
Kirby said that Wagner has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 per cent of them drawn from prisons. The White House national security spokesperson also showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations, a claim that Pyongyang called groundless and denounced the US for providing lethal weapons to Ukraine. Prigozhin also denied taking delivery of arms from North Korea.
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Reuters reported early Saturday that designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organisation under US executive order 13581 would freeze any US assets of the group and prohibit Americans from providing funds, goods or services to it (Wagner).
"With these actions and more to come, our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is this: Wagner is a criminal organisation that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses, and we will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose, and target those assisting Wagner," Kirby further said on Friday.
(With inputs from agencies)
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