Washington, 26 January 2023 (dpa/MIA) – The US government designated the Russian paramilitary group known as the Wagner group, as a “significant transnational criminal organization” and sanctioned the group and more than a dozen of its associates and entities.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned six individuals and 12 entities, saying the actions were needed to “degrade the Russian Federation’s capacity to wage war against Ukraine.”

Treasury’s move was concurrent with that of the Department of State, which posed additional sanctions on those targeting the infrastructure that supports battlefield operations in Ukraine, including producers of Russia’s weapons and those administering Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

“As sanctions and export controls on Russia from our international coalition continue to bite, the Kremlin is desperately searching for arms and support – including through the brutal Wagner Group – to continue its unjust war against Ukraine,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen in a statement.

“Today’s expanded sanctions on Wagner, as well as new sanctions on their associates and other companies enabling the Russian military complex, will further impede Putin’s ability to arm and equip his war machine.”

The Department of State is designating five entities and one individual linked to the Wagner Group and its head, Yevgeniy Prigozhin. Additionally, the department is designating nine individuals and 14 entities because they are either government officials, involved in the extended networks of designated persons are part of Russia’s military industrial complex or a combination of those factors.

Finally, the department identified two yachts and one aircraft as blocked property.