Category
Latest news

UK Imposes 46 New Sanctions on Russia, Targeting Wagner Group and Mercenary Networks

Authors
Maryna_kulakova
Maryna Kulakova
Author
UK Imposes 46 New Sanctions on Russia, Targeting Wagner Group and Mercenary Networks
A volunteer of Espanola special force unit, a detachment of Russian football hooligans, guards at the football stadium in occupied Mariupol on June 22, 2023, a former base of Ukrainian Azov battalion next to Russian fan scarfs. (Source: Getty Images)

The United Kingdom has introduced 46 new sanctions against Russia, including measures targeting individuals associated with the Wagner Group .

Sanctions were also imposed on individuals and organizations in the Central African Republic, Libya, and Mali due to their connections with mercenary activities.

An additional individual was sanctioned for involvement in chemical weapons use.

The updated sanctions list has been published on the UK government’s website.

Among those sanctioned are:

  • Denis Sergeev, a GRU  officer and one of the suspects in the poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal.  According to the sanctions rationale, Sergeev “supported the preparation and use of the Novichok chemical agent in Salisbury on March 4, 2018, and played a coordinating role in London during the attack.”

  • Anatoly Bibilov, former president of the Autonomous Region of South Ossetia.

  • The “Espanola” battalion  fighting against Ukraine, along with its commander Stanislav Orlov.

  • The “African Corps”  and its commander Andrei Averyanov, reportedly intended to replace the Wagner Group in Libya.

The UK government also stated that these individuals are responsible for creating the disinformation network Doppelganger, which spread content on social media “criticizing Ukraine, praising Russia, and suggesting that Western sanctions on Russia would have negative consequences,” according to Meta.

Previously, the US Department of Justice has filed charges against Eleview International Inc. and its two executives, accusing them of illegally exporting American technology worth millions of dollars to Russia, bypassing existing sanctions, reported Virginia Office of Public Affairs on November 4.

See all

Wagner is a Russian armed formation, an international criminal and terrorist organization, composed of mercenaries and convicted criminals. It participates in combat operations, including Russia’s invasion of eastern Ukraine since 2014 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in Syria, Sudan, Libya, and the Central African Republic.

Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, also known as the Salisbury Poisonings, was a failed assassination attempt targeting Sergei Skripal—a former Russian military officer and double agent for British intelligence—on March 4, 2018, in Salisbury, England. Sergei and his daughter, Yulia, were exposed to a Novichok nerve agent in the attack.

The Espanola Battalion is a Russian irregular military formation established in 2022, primarily composed of radical football fans from various Russian clubs, including CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Torpedo Moscow, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and Lokomotiv Moscow.

The African Corps is a Russian paramilitary organization established in late 2023 to succeed the Wagner Group's operations in Africa. Formed under the auspices of Russia's Ministry of Defense, the African Corps aims to continue and expand Russia's military and economic engagements across the African continent.