BIT LATE

Wagner Group Officially Designated as Terrorists by U.K.

The designation makes it a crime to openly support the notorious mercenary group.

The United Kingdom on Friday officially proscribed Russia’s Wagner Group as a terrorist organization—making it illegal to openly support the mercenaries, let alone join them. The designation had been in the offing since Sept. 6, when the U.K. Parliament laid an order that members voted in favor of on Friday. The Wagner Group, also known as PMC Wagner, has been faltering as of late. Once at the forefront of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the infamously-brutal mercenaries have been pulled off the front lines after their war-lord leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, mysteriously died in a plane crash weeks after leading a partial mutiny against President Vladimir Putin. Those who support the Wagner Group in Britain could now face punishments up to 14 years in prison, the government announced, with the mercenary group now categorized like ISIS and al-Qaeda.