The Russian group Wagner classified as a criminal organization by Washington

Wagner no longer operates in the shadows and Westerners intend to take advantage of this to strike.

The United States on Friday designated the Russian paramilitary group Wagner as an international criminal organization, denouncing its abuses committed in Ukraine in particular.

The paramilitary group led by Yevgeny Prigojine, a 61-year-old Russian businessman close to President Vladimir Putin, began operating in Africa in particular before being engaged in Ukraine alongside the regular Russian army.

This mini-army, made up of ex-soldiers and former detainees, is currently very active in the fierce battle for the capture of Bakhmout and Soledar, in eastern Ukraine.

"Wagner is a criminal organization that commits vast atrocities and human rights abuses," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

"We continue to consider that the Wagner group currently has some 50,000 people deployed in Ukraine, including 10,000 mercenaries and 40,000 prisoners" to such an extent that this arouses the "reservations" of the Russian Ministry of Defense about its "recruitment methods “, he said.

Weapons supplied by North Korea?

He also showed the press satellite images taken by US intelligence of supposed Russian train cars leaving Russia bound for North Korea and then returning to Russian territory with military equipment, including rockets for the Wagner Group in Ukraine.

REUTERS/Leah Millis REUTERS

The images were taken on November 18 and 19, he said, adding that the United States had passed the information to the UN Security Council as part of the sanctions targeting Pyongyang.

This qualification places the paramilitary group on the same level as the Mafia or other organizations linked to organized crime, such as the Japanese yakuza.

“We will work tirelessly to identify, expose and target all those assisting Wagner,” John Kirby said.

The American official also delivered that according to his information, the tensions would worsen between the mercenaries of Prigojine and the Russian army, in competition on the Ukrainian ground.