Human Rights Violation, EU Sanctions Russian Mercenary Group

BRUSSELS – European Union impose sanctions on private military contractor Russia, Wagner Group on Monday (13/12/2021). In addition to the Wagner Group, sanctions were also imposed on eight other individuals and three energy companies in Syria. The European Union accuses the group of carrying out covert operations on behalf of the Kremlin.

“The Wagner group is responsible for serious human rights violations in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Mozambique,” the EU said in its official journal, as quoted by Reuters.

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Russia denies any wrongdoing. President Vladimir Putin said private military contractors have the right to work and pursue their interests anywhere in the world as long as they do not violate Russian laws. Putin said the Wagner Group did not represent the Russian state or were paid for by it.

The travel ban and asset freeze – designed to restrict any government from working with the Wagner Group – is unlikely to have a major impact in Moscow. But they marked a further hardening of the EU’s foreign policy toward Russia, diplomats said.

The European Union has blacklisted Dimitriy Utkin, a former military intelligence officer (GRU). The European Union said Utkin was the founder of Wagner and was responsible for “coordinating and planning operations for the deployment of Wagner Group mercenaries in Ukraine”.

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Valery Zakharov, security adviser to the president of the Central African Republic, is the only Russian public figure on the list. The European Union accused him of masterminding the killing of three Russian journalists who were investigating the Wagner Group in 2018. Zakharov has denied knowledge of the company, any links to it, or any wrongdoing.

Three of those sanctioned – Andrey Troshev, Andrey Bogatov and Alexander Kuznetsov – were Wagner commanders whom Putin received at a Kremlin event and posed with for photos published by Russian news outlet Fontanka in 2017.

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