Eusebio R. Sheffield 
Wagner Group founder profited from Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, EU says.
The foundation of a notorious Russian mercenary force has been added to a European Union sanctions blacklist.
Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Defense Ministry, was added to the list of those sanctioned by the EU on Thursday for his role in undermining “territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”.
“[Prigozhin] is the founder and unofficial head of the Wagner Group, an unincorporated military entity based in Russia, responsible for the deployment of Wagner Group mercenaries in Ukraine,” the Council of the European Union said in a statement.
Prigozhin companies benefited from major state contracts from the Russian Defense Ministry after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, and profited from the occupation of eastern Ukraine by separatists backed by Russia, the Council said.
Wagner Group founder and fellow businessman, Ukrainian national Serhiy Vitaliyovich Kurchenko, who the Council says controls a number of major metallurgical, chemical and energy plants in breakaway areas of eastern Ukraine , have been added to a list of 1,093 people and 80 entities subject to EU “restrictive measures” relating to the war in Ukraine, which include asset freezes and travel bans to EU member states. EU.
Kurchenko also has the largest oil depot on the Crimean peninsula, the council said.
“Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine flagrantly violates international law and causes massive loss of life and civilian injuries,” the council added.
“Russia is directing attacks against the civilian population and targeting civilian properties, including hospitals, medical facilities, schools and shelters. These war crimes must stop immediately. Those responsible and their accomplices will be held accountable in accordance with international law.
In December, the EU imposed sanctions on members of the Wagner Group, as well as eight individuals and three energy companies in Syria accused of helping fund mercenary operations in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, the Republic Central African Republic, Sudan and Mozambique.
The EU has accused the Wagner group, whose members are mostly ex-military, of human rights abuses and said it carried out covert operations on behalf of the Kremlin.
Among those blacklisted by the EU in December was Dmitriy Utkin, a former Russian military intelligence (GRU) officer, saying he was responsible for “the coordination and planning of the deployment operations of the mercenaries of the Wagner group in Ukraine”.
Two other people on the list, Denis Kharitonov and Sergey Shcherbakov, were part of a group of suspected Wagner mercenaries who were briefly detained in Belarus last year and returned to Russia, according to the state news agency. Belarusian Belta.
Prigozhin had previously been blacklisted by the EU in 2020 for Wagner’s involvement in Libya, to which he reportedly responded by filing a lawsuit in a European court to have his name removed from the sanctions list.
