UK imposes sanctions on Wagner Group leaders in Africa

The UK has announced 13 new sanctions on individuals and businesses linked to the actions of Wagner Group in Africa, including in Mali, Central African Republic and Sudan.

The measures will limit the financial freedom of those sanctioned, by preventing UK citizens, companies and banks from dealing with them. Assets held in the UK will also be frozen and travel bans implemented.

Those targeted with the sanctions include the head of the Wagner Group in Mali, Ivan Aleksandrovitch Maslov, with the government citing the massacre of at least 500 people in Moura in March 2022, including summary executions as well as rape and torture.

The head of the Wagner Group in CAR, Vitalii Viktorovitch Perfilev, and the Wagner Group’s head of operations in the country, Konstantin Aleksandrovitch Pikalov, are also being sanctioned for deliberately targeting civilians.

Andrew Mitchell, minister for development and Africa, said: "The Wagner Group is committing atrocities in Ukraine, as well as acting with impunity in countries like Mali, Central African Republic and Sudan. Wherever Wagner operates, it has a catastrophic effect on communities, worsens existing conflicts and damages the reputations of countries that host them.

"These sanctions expose despicable individuals who have commissioned violations of international humanitarian law, holding them to account for the severe harm they are inflicting on innocent civilians for financial gain."