LONDON: Britain has “underplayed and underestimated” the threat posed by the Russian Wagner mercenary group and should ban it as a terrorist organization, a powerful committee of UK lawmakers said Wednesday.
The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said the sanctions imposed by Britain on Wagner are “underwhelming” and UK authorities have done little to track the private army’s activities beyond Ukraine, where it has fought as part of Russia’s invading forces.
“There are serious national security threats to the UK and its allies of allowing the network to continue to thrive,” said the committee, whose members come from both governing and opposition parties. It said Britain should “urgently proscribe the Wagner Network as a terrorist organization,” something the Conservative government has so far been unwilling to do.
In a 78-page report, the committee said Wagner, which has close ties to the Russian state, operates like an “international criminal mafia, fueling corruption and plundering natural resources,” especially in Africa, where it provides stability and protection for several authoritarian leaders.
“It is a significant failing to see the Wagner Network primarily through the prism of Europe, not least given its geographic spread, the impact of its activities on UK interests further abroad, and the fact that its wealth creation sits largely in Africa,” the report said. It called it “deeply regrettable” that the UK paid little attention to Wagner before 2022, and “continues to give so little focus to countries beyond Ukraine.”
The committee said with “high confidence” that Wagner had conducted military operations in at least seven countries since 2014: Ukraine, Syria, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya, Mozambique and Mali.
The lawmakers said Wagner also has business interests in those countries, such as lucrative gold mining operations in the Central African Republic and Sudan, where Wagner’s gold-smuggling activities “enabled huge quantities of gold to bypass the state” and flow to Russia.
Wagner also has carried out non-military actions such as election interference in Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and South Africa, and there is evidence of the group’s involvement in other countries, the committee said.
The lawmakers urged the government to move “faster and harder” to sanction individuals and entities linked to Wagner, calling British sanctions “underwhelming in the extreme” compared to those imposed by the United States and the European Union.
The lawmakers urged Britain to boost aid funding to fragile and conflict-wracked countries to stop them from turning to Russia and Wagner for help. A decision to slash the UK’s international aid budget from 0.7 percent to 0.5 percent of gross national income should be reversed as soon as possible, they said.
The report, which drew on research by journalists, government and non-government organizations, testimony from Russia experts and evidence from a former Wagner fighter, said Wagner’s future was uncertain after leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s armed mutiny against Russia’s top military leaders last month. The rebellion ended within hours when a deal was brokered for Wagner troops to go to Belarus.
The lawmakers said Britain should take advantage the confused situation to “disrupt” Wagner.
“In the wake of the attempted coup last month, the future manifestations of the Wagner Network are uncertain,” said the committee’s chairwoman, Conservative lawmaker Alicia Kearns. “With the network at its most vulnerable — and the clock ticking — the time for action is now.”
The Foreign Office said in a statement that Britain had “heavily sanctioned the Wagner Group, including its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and several key commanders, limiting their travel and freezing their assets.”
“The UK has been one of the leading suppliers of military aid to Ukraine, who have been fighting Wagner forces on the battlefield,” it said. “We continue to work with our allies to expose and counter their destabilising activities around the world.”
![]()
Lawmakers say the UK should ban Russia’s Wagner as a terrorist group
Short Url
https://arab.news/rcrc3
Lawmakers say the UK should ban Russia’s Wagner as a terrorist group
- The UK has been one of the leading suppliers of military aid to Ukraine, who have been fighting Wagner forces on the battlefield
Barcelona train crash kills 1 in Spain's second deadly rail accident in days
- The northeastern region's Interior Minister, Nuria Parlon, told local media the crash killed one person and injured 37
BARCELONA: A commuter train near Barcelona ploughed into the rubble of a collapsed wall on Tuesday, killing one and injuring dozens in Spain's second deadly rail accident in days.
The latest incident is likely to raise more questions about Spanish transport safety, coming two days after the collision of two high-speed trains in the southern region of Andalusia killed 42 people -- the country's deadliest rail accident in more than a decade.
On Tuesday, "a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks, causing an accident involving a passenger train" in the municipality of Gelida, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Barcelona, the Catalonia region's civil protection agency posted on social media.
The northeastern region's Interior Minister, Nuria Parlon, told local media the crash killed one person and injured 37 -- several seriously.
"We regret to announce the death of one of the passengers on the train," said Parlon, adding authorities had not yet completed the identification process of the deceased.
"Of the total number of people treated, five are in serious condition," she added.
Emergency workers used torches to survey the wreckage of the derailed train carriage, which had turned into a mass of crumpled metal, an AFP reporter saw on Tuesday night.
Spanish rail infrastructure operator Adif said a storm caused a wall to fall, creating the rubble that the train slammed into. Catalan commuter trains would remain suspended, it added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Spain's king and queen visited the site where two high-speed trains collided on Sunday as well as survivors of the accident that injured more than 120 people, 37 of whom are still in hospital.
The country's deadliest rail accident in more than 12 years took place when a train operated by rail company Iryo, travelling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz in the southern Andalusia region.
It crossed onto the other track, where it crashed into an oncoming train heading to the southern city of Huelva, which also derailed.
Dressed in dark clothing, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia shook hands with emergency services workers near the spot where the mangled wreckage of the trains lay.
They then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Cordoba, where some of the injured are being treated.
Speaking to reporters after leaving the hospital, Felipe said he wanted to "convey the affection of the entire country" to the victims.
Santiago Salvador, a Portuguese national who broke a leg in the accident, said he felt lucky to be alive.
"I was thrown through the carriage; it felt like being on a carousel," Salvador, his face covered in cuts, told Portuguese state television RTP.
"It looked like hell. There were people who were very seriously injured."
- Crack on tracks -
Sunday's derailment was Spain's deadliest rail accident since 2013, when 80 people were killed after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela.
Flags flew at half-mast on public buildings, television anchors wore black, and cabinet ministers curtailed public appearances as Spain observed the first of three days of national mourning.
The government has vowed a full and transparent investigation into the cause of the accident.
Unlike the 2013 disaster, the derailment occurred on a straight section of track, and the trains were travelling within the speed limit of 250 kilometres (155 miles) for the area concerned, officials said.
Spanish media report that the probe is focusing on a crack more than 30 centimetres (12 inches) long in the track at the site of the accident.
The crack may have resulted from "a poor weld or a weld that deteriorated due to train traffic or weather", daily newspaper El Mundo reported, citing unidentified technicians with access to the inquiry.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said investigators were looking to see if a broken section of rail was "the cause or the result" of the derailment.
He said the Iryo train was "practically new" and the section of track where the disaster happened had been recently renovated, making the accident "extremely strange".
- Sabotage ruled out -
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said "the possibility of sabotage was never considered" and that "there has never been any element suggesting otherwise."
The head of state rail operator Renfe, Alvaro Fernandez Heredia, said human error has "been practically ruled out".
Rail operator Adif on Tuesday also imposed a temporary 160 kph speed limit on parts of the high-speed line between Madrid and Barcelona after train drivers reported bumps.
Maintenance crews will inspect the tracks overnight, and the restriction is expected to be lifted if no issues are found, the company added.
The latest incident is likely to raise more questions about Spanish transport safety, coming two days after the collision of two high-speed trains in the southern region of Andalusia killed 42 people -- the country's deadliest rail accident in more than a decade.
On Tuesday, "a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks, causing an accident involving a passenger train" in the municipality of Gelida, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Barcelona, the Catalonia region's civil protection agency posted on social media.
The northeastern region's Interior Minister, Nuria Parlon, told local media the crash killed one person and injured 37 -- several seriously.
"We regret to announce the death of one of the passengers on the train," said Parlon, adding authorities had not yet completed the identification process of the deceased.
"Of the total number of people treated, five are in serious condition," she added.
Emergency workers used torches to survey the wreckage of the derailed train carriage, which had turned into a mass of crumpled metal, an AFP reporter saw on Tuesday night.
Spanish rail infrastructure operator Adif said a storm caused a wall to fall, creating the rubble that the train slammed into. Catalan commuter trains would remain suspended, it added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Spain's king and queen visited the site where two high-speed trains collided on Sunday as well as survivors of the accident that injured more than 120 people, 37 of whom are still in hospital.
The country's deadliest rail accident in more than 12 years took place when a train operated by rail company Iryo, travelling from Malaga to Madrid, derailed near Adamuz in the southern Andalusia region.
It crossed onto the other track, where it crashed into an oncoming train heading to the southern city of Huelva, which also derailed.
Dressed in dark clothing, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia shook hands with emergency services workers near the spot where the mangled wreckage of the trains lay.
They then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Cordoba, where some of the injured are being treated.
Speaking to reporters after leaving the hospital, Felipe said he wanted to "convey the affection of the entire country" to the victims.
Santiago Salvador, a Portuguese national who broke a leg in the accident, said he felt lucky to be alive.
"I was thrown through the carriage; it felt like being on a carousel," Salvador, his face covered in cuts, told Portuguese state television RTP.
"It looked like hell. There were people who were very seriously injured."
- Crack on tracks -
Sunday's derailment was Spain's deadliest rail accident since 2013, when 80 people were killed after a train veered off a curved section of track outside the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela.
Flags flew at half-mast on public buildings, television anchors wore black, and cabinet ministers curtailed public appearances as Spain observed the first of three days of national mourning.
The government has vowed a full and transparent investigation into the cause of the accident.
Unlike the 2013 disaster, the derailment occurred on a straight section of track, and the trains were travelling within the speed limit of 250 kilometres (155 miles) for the area concerned, officials said.
Spanish media report that the probe is focusing on a crack more than 30 centimetres (12 inches) long in the track at the site of the accident.
The crack may have resulted from "a poor weld or a weld that deteriorated due to train traffic or weather", daily newspaper El Mundo reported, citing unidentified technicians with access to the inquiry.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said investigators were looking to see if a broken section of rail was "the cause or the result" of the derailment.
He said the Iryo train was "practically new" and the section of track where the disaster happened had been recently renovated, making the accident "extremely strange".
- Sabotage ruled out -
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said "the possibility of sabotage was never considered" and that "there has never been any element suggesting otherwise."
The head of state rail operator Renfe, Alvaro Fernandez Heredia, said human error has "been practically ruled out".
Rail operator Adif on Tuesday also imposed a temporary 160 kph speed limit on parts of the high-speed line between Madrid and Barcelona after train drivers reported bumps.
Maintenance crews will inspect the tracks overnight, and the restriction is expected to be lifted if no issues are found, the company added.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.