The UK is underestimating the danger posed by the Wagner Group, MPs have warned, with current sanctions targeting the mercenary unit “underwhelming in the extreme”.
In a new report the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee warns that the Government has long failed to take seriously the danger posed by the private military company and similar groups, with MPs now urging ministers to proscribe Yevgeny Prigozhin’s unit as a terrorist organisation.
The 82-page report sees the committee for the first time using open-source investigative research to name Wagner-linked individuals and organisations, with testimony from former senior fighter from the group also included.
The future of the Wagner Group remains unclear after Mr Prigozhin and his troops last month staged a short-lived coup against the authorities in Moscow.
This is a landmark report and exposes the dark underbelly of a network that until recently thrived in the shadows— Alicia Kearns, Foreign Affairs Committee
But MPs warn that the group, described as “highly effective” at reconfiguring itself, still poses a “serious national security threats to the UK and its allies”.
It calls for the Government to “move faster and harder” to sanction individuals linked to the wider Wagner network, as well as urgently improving its intelligence on the group.
Ministers are currently “remarkably complacent” about what parliamentarians warn is a “growing practice” of private military companies being used for “malign purposes”.
Foreign Affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns said: “This is a landmark report and exposes the dark underbelly of a network that until recently thrived in the shadows.
“In the ten years since the Wagner Network’s formation, the UK Government has lacked a coherent strategy and efforts to meaningfully tackle Wagner have been non-existent. This has allowed the network to grow, spread its tentacles deep into Africa, and exploit countries on their knees due to conflict or instability.
“Where the West moves out, Wagner moves in, seeing opportunity in suffering and profit in chaos. Today’s report lays bare the activities of the network in seven key countries, where there is clear evidence of Wagner operations.
The cross-party committee raises particular concerns over what it calls the “significant failing” of seeing the Wagner Group largely through the prism of Europe.
Instead, it notes that the company have carried out military operations in at least seven countries in the past decade, including Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Mali.
If we are to undermine the operations of the Wagner Network, we need to sever the network’s wealth at its source— Alicia Kearns, Foreign Affairs Committee
“It is deeply regrettable that it was not until early 2022 that the Government began to invest greater resource in understanding the Wagner Network, despite Wagner fighters having already conducted military operations in at least seven countries for almost a decade,” the report notes.
“This leaves the Government even less prepared to respond to the network’s evolution.”
MPs conclude that the Government has a “fundamental lack of knowledge and policy” on other dangerous private groups similar to the Wagner unit.
“We are deeply concerned by the Government’s dismal lack of understanding of Wagner’s hold beyond Europe, in particular their grip on African states.
“This is a fundamental failing of joined up government; ministers appear to be in denial about the consequences of failing to tackle this malign business model before it takes hold,” Ms Kearns warns.
“If we are to undermine the operations of the Wagner Network, we need to sever the network’s wealth at its source.
“We are calling for the Government to sanction organisations and individuals known to prop up Wagner – faster and harder than before. We are unconvinced that the Government’s ‘sanction’ of the group truly captures the complex web of entities beneath it,” she added.
MPs also call on the Government to offer a “compelling” alternative to countries that require security partnerships, reviving a former commitment to channel half of UK aid to fragile and conflict-hit countries and regions.
They also urge a more “coherent” approach to addressing the danger of Wagner and similar groups with a new taskforce.
Ms Kearns said: “In the wake of the attempted coup last month, the future manifestations of the Wagner Network are uncertain. With the network at its most vulnerable – and the clock ticking – the time for action is now.”
For many months, Labour has called for it to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. The Government now urgently needs to act— Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy
MPs also express concern over a lack of clarity over which minister is in charge of responding to the Wagner Group.
The report notes that the Government’s evidence to the committee inquiry was several months late “due to the challenges of obtaining input from multiple departments”.
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said: “The Wagner Group has committed barbaric atrocities in Ukraine and across the world and continues to pose serious threats.
“For many months, Labour has called for it to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. The Government now urgently needs to act.”
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We have heavily sanctioned the Wagner Group, including its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and several key commanders, limiting their travel and freezing their assets.
“The UK has been one of the leading suppliers of military aid to Ukraine, who have been fighting Wagner forces on the battlefield.
“We continue to work with our allies to expose and counter their destabilising activities around the world.”
