The United Kingdom has officially announced its intention to designate Russia's Wagner mercenary group as a prohibited terrorist organization, citing ongoing threats to global security, even

following the demise of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The British government revealed that a parliamentary order would be introduced under the Terrorism Act to outlaw the Wagner group. Once approved by lawmakers, this designation will entail strict prohibitions on affiliation with or support for Wagner, a group that has played a significant role in Russia's military operations, including the invasion of Ukraine, as well as engagements in Syria and various African nations.

The impending action, expected to come into effect shortly, will place Wagner in the same category as internationally recognized terrorist entities such as the Islamic State group, the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, and paramilitary groups from Northern Ireland.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman emphasized Wagner's involvement in activities such as looting, torture, and heinous murders. She underscored the threat posed by the group through its operations across Ukraine, the Middle East, and Africa, characterizing them unequivocally as terrorists.

"They are terrorists, plain and simple—and this proscription order makes that clear in U.K. law," Braverman stated.

The ban will empower British authorities to seize any assets associated with the organization, although this is largely symbolic, as Wagner is not known to operate within the United Kingdom.

This decision follows a recommendation made by the influential Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament in July, which called for the outlawing of Wagner. The committee expressed concerns that British authorities had underestimated the group's threat and advocated taking action to disrupt Wagner's activities amid the uncertainty following Prigozhin's armed mutiny against Russia's top military leaders in June.

In August, two months after the mutiny, Prigozhin was reported to have died in a plane crash on August 23. A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment suggested that the plane had been intentionally downed by an explosion, an allegation that Russia's President Vladimir Putin's government has denied.

Several other countries that support Ukraine have imposed sanctions on Wagner's leaders, while earlier this year, both the Lithuanian and Estonian legislatures passed resolutions designating it as a terrorist organization. The United States has classified the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organization. Photo by Corbeau News Centrafrique, Wikimedia commons.