Jan 21 (Portal) – The head of Russia’s private military company Wagner released a short letter to the White House on Saturday asking what crime his company was accused of after Washington announced new sanctions against the group.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday that Wagner, who supports Russian forces in their invasion of Ukraine and boasts of advances on the battlefield, would be labeled a major transnational criminal organization.
A letter in English to Kirby, published on the Telegram channel of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s press service, read: “Dear Mr. Kirby, could you please clarify what crime was committed by PMC Wagner?”
Kirby called Wagner “a criminal organization that commits widespread atrocities and human rights abuses.”
Last month, the White House said Wagner had accepted a shipment of arms from North Korea to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine.
An interior view shows the PMC Wagner Center, a project by businessman and founder of the private Wagner military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office building in Saint Petersburg, Russia November 4, 2022. Portal/Igor Russak /File Photo
The North Korean Foreign Ministry called the report baseless and Prigozhin denied accepting any such shipment at the time, calling the report “gossip and speculation”.
Washington had already restricted trade in Wagner in 2017 and again in December to restrict access to weapons.
The European Union imposed its own sanctions on Wagner in December 2021, which was active in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Mozambique and Mali, and Ukraine.
Prigozhin has described Wagner as a fully independent military force with its own aircraft, tanks, missiles and artillery.
He is wanted in the United States for meddling in US elections, something he did in November and would continue to do.
writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Helen Popper
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.