U.S. Will Use 'All Appropriate Tools' To Hold Wagner Group Accountable — State Department

The State Department on Monday expressed confidence in Russian mercenary Wagner group's forthcoming designation as a transnational criminal organization (TCO), TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We’re reaching for every appropriate and effective authority when it comes to countering the activity that the Wagner Group is engaged in," spokesperson Ned Price told a daily press briefing in response to TURAN's questions.

The U.S. Treasury Department is planning to announce a broader set of actions including its designation as TSO later this week. "We are confident that this is an appropriate step given what we’ve seen from the Wagner Group," Price said.

We went on to explain, "the activity that we’ve seen on the part of the Wagner Group allows us to meet that threshold that is established under the transnational criminal organization authority. It is engaging in activity out of a pursuit of in some ways a profit, in some ways prestige; it is employing officials who are criminals; in some cases, its subordinates include those who have been released from prison, where they have been serving long sentences for the – for committing violent crimes."

Wagner’s status as a transnational criminal organization will provide the Biden Administration "another tool to hold the Group, its other senior officials, and its employees to account," as Price put it.

Price's comment came just hours after a U.S. military official told reporters that Russia has been moving to fortify its position in the Donbas region by sending "tens of thousands of" replacement troops into the fighting.

The situation in Ukraine remains largely static, the official said speaking on background, adding though there are bloody battles as Russian forces try to take Bakhmut and Ukrainian forces continue offensives against the Russian position near Kreminna.

While the Pentagon would not guess Russian casualties, the official cited Army Gen. Mark A. Milley's early estimate of "well over 100,000 casualties" in the Russian forces since the war began in Feb 2022.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.