On Tuesday, the United Kingdom is to ban Russian mercenary outfit the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization, media reports said, citing Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
A report in the Daily Mail said that Britain was set to create the Wagner Group a “proscribed” association under anti-terror regulations, placing it on a par with ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Wagner is a fierce and destructive organization that has performed as a military instrument of Vladimir Putin’s Russia overseas, the newspaper cited Braverman as saying.
It added, that while Russian Putin’s authority determines what to do with the monster it made, Wagner’s continuing destabilizing actions only continue to serve the Kremlin’s political purposes.
Under the Terrorism Act 2000, the home secretary has the authority to proscribe an organization if it considers it is involved in terrorism.
A prescription ruling makes it a crime to support the group.
They are terrorists, simple and plain– and this banning order creates that apparent in UK law, a BBC report added, citing the minister.
Wagner has been involved in looting, torture, and brutal killings, Braverman added in the Daily Mail.
The Wagner operations in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Africa are a threat to international safety, she said.
She added that that’s why we are proscribing this terrorist organization and continuing to support Kyiv wherever we can in its battle against Moscow.
The report said that draft steps to ban the Wagner Group under the act will be presented in Parliament on Wednesday.
In July, the UK declared sanctions against 13 people and companies it said had connections to the Russian group in Africa, blaming it for offenses there including murder and torture.
