UK to declare Russia’s Wagner a terrorist organisation

Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, is set to be proscribed as a terrorist group by the UK government - meaning it will be illegal to be a member or support the organisation.

A draft order to be laid in Parliament will allow its assets to be categorised as terrorist property and seized.

The home secretary said Wagner was "violent and destructive... a military tool of Vladimir Putin's Russia".

She said its work in Ukraine and Africa was a "threat to global security".

Suella Braverman added: "Wagner's continuing destabilising activities only continue to serve the Kremlin's political goals."

"They are terrorists, plain and simple - and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law."

Wagner had played a key role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as operating in Syria and countries in Africa including Libya and Mali.

Its fighters have been accused of a number crimes including killing and torturing Ukrainian citizens.

n 2020, the US said Wagner soldiers had planted landmines around the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

And in July, the UK said the group had carried out "executions and torture in Mali and the Central African Republic".

The group's future was thrown into uncertainty earlier this year when its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led a failed mutiny against Russia's military leaders. (BBC)