UK to set up taskforce to oppose Wagner Group and other Russian mercenary forces
The UK is stepping up efforts to counter private military companies (PMCs) like Russia's Wagner Group.
The Government responded to a Foreign Affairs Committee report titled 'Guns for gold: the Wagner network exposed', which suggested ways in which the UK should address the threat posed by PMCs, in particular the Wagner Group.
The recommendations included the establishment of a cross-Government taskforce.
Its goal is to contain and counter mercenary groups like Wagner and highlight their destabilising effect and human rights abuses.
The Government agreed or partially agreed to 16 of the committee's recommendations, disagreeing with only one.
The Foreign Office also agreed with the suggestion to have a "dedicated new resource to containing and countering Wagner and other Russian proxy PMCs and are working closely with allies to maximise our collective impact".
The Foreign Affairs Committee describes Wagner as a proxy-Russian private military company that is criminal, violent and linked to terrorism, and poses a threat to global security and rules-based international order.
Until his death in a plane crash in August, the Wagner Group was run by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Wagner is staffed by mercenaries, many of whom the late leader recruited straight out of prison.
Until Prigozhin's attempted coup on Moscow in June, the Wagner Group was fighting in Ukraine, but since then it has concentrated its efforts in Africa.
Despite the death of Prigozhin and other senior leaders in the plane crash, the Wagner Group remains active, according to the report.
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