The United States of America (USA) on Tuesday imposed sanctions on companies in the United Arab Emirates, the Central African Republic and Russia, which it accused of engaging in illegal gold trade to finance the Russian mercenary Wagner group, the Voice of America reports.
The US Department of Justice said in a statement that it had sanctioned four companies associated with the Wagner Group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, and that they financed the maintenance and expansion of mercenary armed forces, including in Ukraine and Africa, through the illegal trade in gold.
"The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries such as the Central African Republic and Mali. The US will continue to sanction the Wagner Group's sources of income to curb its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine and elsewhere," he said. in a statement, Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
The US State Department announced that the moves against Wagner were not connected to the riot last weekend.
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