Wagner Set To Be Proscribed As Terrorists In Move That Will Help Ukrainians' Legal Case

An imminent government decision by the British to proscribe the Wagner mercenary group will speed up plans by Ukrainian refugees to sue it for up to £5bn in damages in the UK courts, the lawyer leading the case has told the Guardian.

- Patrick Wintour

The government signalled it would proscribe the Wagner group, which is active in Russia and parts of Africa, on the basis of it being a terrorist group. Official proscription - a ministerial decision guided by criteria set out in the Terrorism Act 2000 - would make it illegal to help the group, said human rights lawyer Jason McCue.

The UK imposed sanctions on the head of the group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in 2020 and on the group in March 2022, immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which Wagner has played a large part.

Ministers, led by the Home Office, have been looking at proscription for months, and bracing themselves for a critical report from the foreign affairs select committee on the lack of government grip on the group.