The mercenary Wagner Group has officially been designated a terrorist organisation by British authorities.
The decision was made more than a week after the order was introduced in Parliament. It forbids Wagner membership and any assistance for the organisation, which has been identified as a key actor in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Wagner organisation was included to a list of 78 outlawed organizations, including the Islamic State Group, the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas, and Northern Ireland paramilitaries, according to the United Kingdom Home Office. “This order takes effect immediately and makes belonging to the Wagner Group or actively supporting the group in the UK a criminal [offense], with a potential 14-year jail sentence that can be handed down alongside or in lieu of a fine.”
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said in a statement that declaring the organisation a terrorist group “sends a clear message that the UK will not tolerate Russia’s proxies and their barbaric actions in Ukraine.”
According to a release from last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky requested the group be treated as a terrorist organization.
