LONDON, September 15. /TASS/. The United Kingdom has added Russia’s Wagner Private Military Company to the list of terrorist organizations, the UK Home Office said on Friday.
"The Russian mercenary organisation, Wagner Group, has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation today (15th September) after an order was laid in Parliament on Wednesday (6th September). This order comes into force with immediate effect and will make belonging to the Wagner Group or actively supporting the group in the UK a criminal offence, with a potential jail sentence of 14 years which can be handed down alongside or in place of a fine," it said, adding that the Wagner Group has now been added to the list of 78 other proscribed organizations in the UK.
Earlier, the British authorities imposed fines of up to 5,000 pounds ($6,200) for wearing the symbols of a terrorist organization. Any assets of such an organization are subject to confiscation in case any are found in the country.
The Times reported in May citing its sources in the British government that London was planning to recognize the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization within weeks. Later, it said that the move had been postponed after the group’s attempted mutiny in late June. According to the newspaper, reports from that time said that the company was being financed from the Russian budget, forcing the British cabinet to analyze the possible legal and diplomatic consequences of the planned step more thoroughly.