US slaps sanctions on Wagner Group

On Wednesday, the United States imposed sanctions on companies associated with Russia’s Wagner Group, a private military company composed of mercenaries that was recently involved in a short-lived mutiny, and Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov, a Russian national who is an executive in the Wagner Group. The entities hit with sanctions included Central African Republic-based Midas Ressources SARLU and Diamville SAU. These companies are notorious for their significant involvement in the trade of “blood diamonds,” which are mind by exploiting local civilians.

Midas and Diamville exert a dominant presence in the illegal mining and distribution of gold and diamonds within the Central African Republic, and they have reportedly funded the Wagner Group. The U.S. Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on Industrial Resources General Trading, based in Dubai, for its involvement in funding Wagner and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, through trade connections with Diamville. Ivanov collaborated with Prigozhin by facilitating weaponry and mining rights transactions in Mali.

The sanctions are considered an effort to curb Russia’s expanding influence in Africa beyond targeting a few specific companies. Russia has played a significant role in maintaining stability in African nations plagued by recurring civil wars and ongoing insecurity, such as the Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan, and Libya, by supplying weapons and deploying forces to support dictatorial regimes. Furthermore, Russia has orchestrated anti-Western coups and removed key figures friendly towards the West.

The Wagner Group aided the local authoritarian regime by carrying out civilian massacres, actions that the Russian forces themselves would not want to directly commit, and, in return for their assistance, the group obtained mining and forestation rights. Reports suggest that a portion of these rights has been utilized to finance operations by Russian President Vladimir Putin. An estimated 10,000 and 3,000 mercenaries from the Wagner Group are deployed in the Central African Republic and Mali, respectively.


weappon@donga.com