THE Russian private military company (PMC) Wagner Group, which was being cheered to the rafters when its members were said to be marching on Moscow to deal with Putin, is now set to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the British government, according to the UK Home Office.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry said a draft order, due to be laid before parliament, will allow Wagner’s assets in the UK to be categorised as terrorist property and seized by the British government.
What frightens the imperialists is that they backed the wrong horse, and there will not be an early end to the war in the Ukraine – which they have promoted – which will continue to push up wheat prices worldwide, deepening the crisis of the imperialist powers, and also revealing the military feet of clay of the Ukrainian fascist legions, who the imperialist powers have backed with billions of pounds and dollars.
According to the UK draft order, it would be illegal to be a member of the Wagner group and/or support the organisation in any way such as promoting it to the public, organising or attending its meetings, and showing its logo.
The Wagner Group is ‘violent and destructive and is a a military tool of Vladimir Putin’ UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the BBC. ‘They are terrorists, plain and simple – and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law.’
The Wagner Group, officially known as PMC Wagner, is a private military company founded in 2014. It began to operate in the war for Donbass, where it acted with regular Russian army units, and its membership over the years grew from several hundreds to tens of thousands, with support from Moscow.
Wagner fighters, since 2015, have actively participated in Russia’s military operations, including against Western-backed Takfiri and separatist terrorists in Syria, liberating Palmyra, Deir ez-Zor, and Ghouta near Damascus.
African states such as Sudan, Central African Republic, Mali, Mozambique and Libya also employed Wagner forces to fight various rebel and terrorist groups wreaking havoc in their countries.
The group’s greatest contribution was fighting alongside Russian troops in the battle for Artyomovsk, which drastically depleted Ukrainian manpower and military equipment.
The move to declare the Russian PMC as a terrorist organisation comes after UK lawmakers on the Foreign Affairs Committee in July urged the government to devise targeted sanctions on what it described as a ‘web of entities’ working for the Wagner Group.
However, the UK ruling class is in the same trench as the Ukrainian fascist militias and is now currently having it out with the UK working class, including the RMT and Aslef rail workers, and the BMA’s Consultants and Junior Doctors.
The UK ruling class are desperate to halt the growing support for Russia in the UK in its war against the Ukrainian fascists.
Presumably, we will soon see police raids on the homes and offices of supporters of the anti-fascist forces in the Ukraine. There is however one sure way to stop the emergence of the ultra-reactionary forces, who support the actions of the Ukrainian fascists.
The TUC is meeting in Liverpool from Sunday September 10th.
The Young Socialists are lobbying the TUC on Monday 11th September at 8.00am. They will be demanding a general strike be called by the TUC to bring down the Tories and bring in a Workers’ Government and socialism
This is the way to stop the war in the Ukraine and to create the Ukrainian Socialist Republic as well as reconstituting the USSR. Forward to the victory of the World Socialist revolution!
