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(Kitco News) The U.S. government imposed new sanctions against Russia's Wagner Group, targeting companies it said were engaged in illicit gold mining operations to help fund the mercenary force.
The U.S. Treasury Department introduced sanctions on four companies in the United Arab Emirates, Central African Republic and Russia. It accused them of being connected to the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and helping boost the mercenaries' presence in Ukraine and some countries in Africa.
"The targeted entities ... have engaged in illicit gold dealings to fund the Wagner Group to sustain and expand its armed forces, including in Ukraine and Africa, while the targeted individual has been central to activities of Wagner Group units in Mali," the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
Companies targeted include Central African Republic-based Midas Ressources SARLU and Diamville SAU, Dubai-based Industrial Resources General Trading, and Russia-based Limited Liability Company DM. All are said to have connections to Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The goal is to hinder the mercenary group's ability to finance itself. Under the sanctions, the U.S. will block any financial transactions of the sanctioned companies while prohibiting U.S. persons from dealing with them.
"The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali," the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement. "The United States will continue to target the Wagner Group's revenue streams to degrade its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine, and anywhere else."
New sanctions come just days after the group attempted mutiny in Russia with a march on Moscow. However, the U.S. State Department pointed out that these sanctions are unrelated to the aborted mutiny attempt over the weekend.
"Recent reporting indicates that the Wagner Group is working to expand its gold mining and processing operations in N'dassima in CAR, potentially earning the organization significant new income," the WSJ quoted the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control as saying in a notice. "The U.S. government is committed to addressing the relationship between gold and the illicit revenue streams that contribute to and fund conflicts, corruption, and other concerns in sub-Saharan Africa."
The U.S. Treasury also sanctioned Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov, a Russian national with reported close connections to Wagner units in Mali.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the Wagner Group received $2 billion from Russia in the past year, calling on Prigozhin's catering firm to be investigated. "I do hope that, as part of this work, no one stole anything, or, let's say, stole less, but we will, of course, investigate all of this," Putin said.
Following the aborted mutiny, Prigozhin and some of his fighters were allowed to leave for Belarus.
The Wagner Group was formed in 2014 following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. It has sent thousands of Russian soldiers to Ukraine, many recruited from Russian jails. The mercenaries are known for some of the bloodiest battles in Ukraine. The militia also fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali, and other countries.
