Reported by FATIMA HUSSEIN

The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four firms and one individual connected to the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenaries that led a brief against the Kremlin last week.

The sanctions from Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted entities in the Central African Republic, the United Arab Emirates and Russia that were connected to the Wagner Group and its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The sanctions are not directly related to last week’s uprising. The U.S. has previously issued sanctions against Prigozhin and the Wagner Group multiple times, including alleging that he tried to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election.

Diamville SAU and Midas Ressources SARLU, two mining firms based in the Central African Republic and connected to Prigozhin, were targeted for sanctions, along with Russia-based Limited Liability Company DM, which conducted gold sales, and Dubai-based Industrial Resources General Trading, which provided support to Diamville. 

The U.S. also sanctioned Andrei Ivanov, a Russian executive in the Wagner Group. Treasury says Ivanov worked with Malian government officials on weapons deals, mining projects, and other Wagner Group activities in Mali.

Treasury says the sanctioned firms engaged in illicit gold deals to fund the Wagner Group so it could sustain and expand its armed forces in Ukraine and Africa.

Read full report: https://apnews.com/article/wagner-group-russia-ukraine-war-treasury-sanctions-be346b938cbc3ca344417ba2768c01de