USA classifies Wagner group as "transnational criminal organization".

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, close friend of Vladimir Putin, is the head of the Wagner group

Photo: Uncredited / dpa

The US wants to classify the Russian mercenary group Wagner as a “transnational criminal organization”.

This was announced by White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

The group commits "atrocities and human rights abuses," Kirby said.

The measure enables additional sanctions against the mercenary group, which was active in the Ukraine war, among other things.

The US government will impose specific sanctions on Wagner next week, Kirby said.

He did not give details, but announced according to the Reuters news agency: Any company that supports Wagner will have to expect consequences in the future.

The group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has around 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, according to Kirby.

Of these, 40,000 were recruited from prisons.

According to Kirby, Wagner receives arms supplies from North Korea in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

On November 18, a train left Russia for North Korea, loaded by North Korea to return to Russia the next day.

As reported by the AFP news agency, Kirby showed footage intended to show the armaments being transported from North Korea to Russia by train.

Accordingly, Kirby assumes that there will be further arms deliveries from North Korea.

Headquarters in St. Petersburg

Mercenaries from the Wagner paramilitary group have been deployed in many conflict regions, including Syria and African countries, for years.

Prigozhin only publicly admitted in September that he had founded the group, which had been operating secretly for a long time.

In October, it opened an official headquarters in St. Petersburg.

In the past, Prigozhin has criticized the leadership of the Russian army, which has suffered major setbacks in its offensive in Ukraine in recent months.

"We're seeing signs, including among the intelligence community, that tensions are rising between Wagner and the Russian Defense Ministry," Kirby said.

Wagner is apparently developing into a rival of the military and the ministries.

However, the Kremlin denied tensions between the Russian army and the Wagner Group.

dam/AFP/dpa/Reuters