White House announces additional sanctions against Russia’s Wagner Group

The spokesperson added that Wagner “is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries,” with an estimated 50,000 personnel deployed to Ukraine, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts.

Kirby also revealed new imagery of Russian railcars traveling to North Korea and back, in what the U.S. believes was North Korea providing arms and ammunition to the Wagner Group. The arms transfer is in direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, Kirby said, and the U.S. on Friday shared information on these violations with the council’s Democratic People’s Republic of Korea sanctions committee.

“With these actions, and there will be more to come, our message to any company that is considering providing support to Wagner is simply this: Wagner is a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses, and we will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose and target those who are assisting Wagner,” Kirby said.