“Widespread human rights violations”
The groups Africa Corps, the Bears Brigade and PMC Espanola are, among others, accused of “committing widespread human rights violations across the continent” and “exploiting the natural resources of these countries for their profit”, in the aim of expanding the Kremlin’s sphere of influence, he indicates.
“These new measures will continue to oppose the Kremlin’s destructive foreign policy, undermining Russia’s attempts to promote instability in Africa,” declared the head of British diplomacy David Lammy, quoted in this press release.
This new salvo of 56 sanctions is “the most important taken against Russia since May 2023” and should make it possible to “strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine,” says the ministry.
Growing influence from Moscow in the Sahel
Russia, which was a key player in Africa during the Soviet era, has been increasing its influence in African countries in recent years. Groups of Russian mercenaries like Wagner, or its successor Africa Corps, support local authorities, and “advisers”, according to Moscow, work with local officials. This is particularly the case in the Central African Republic and the Sahel countries.
In addition to mercenary groups, London’s sanctions target around thirty suppliers of “Russia’s military-industrial complex”, in order to “limit the supply of crucial military equipment that Putin desperately needs for his illegal war in Ukraine” , underlines the Foreign Office.
These entities based in China, Turkey and Central Asia are according to the United Kingdom “involved in the supply and production of equipment, including machine tools, microelectronic products and components for drones”, used by Russia in Ukraine. London also sanctioned a member of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU, whom it accuses of having “used the nerve agent Novichok” in the English city of Salisbury, where the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal made the subject of a poisoning attempt in 2018.
An early supporter of kyiv, the United Kingdom has in recent months taken sanctions against the Russian “ghost fleet”, communications agencies that it accuses of disinformation and even against organizations involved in the “deployment of barbaric chemical weapons” in Ukraine.
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