WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd December, 2022) US Senators Roger Wicker and Ben Cardin said in a statement that they have introduced a bipartisan bill to designate Russia's Wagner Group, a private military company, as a foreign terrorist organization.
"(Wicker and Cardin) today introduced the Holding Accountable Russian Mercenaries (HARM) Act, bipartisan legislation that would require the Secretary of State to designate the Russian-based PMC Wagner Group as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO)," the statement said on Thursday.
A companion measure will also be introduced in the US House of Representatives, the statement said.
Cardin said in the statement that the Wagner Group has been linked to atrocities in Ukraine, Syria and Africa. The FTO designation would allow the US government to go after the group's financial assets and open it up to prosecution.
On Tuesday, US media reported that the Biden administration was also considering the designation on its own as part of an effort to hamper Wagner Group's presence in Africa, where they conduct counterterrorism operations.
In September, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted to establishing Wagner Group in 2014. The US State Department offered in July up to a reward of up to $10 million for information on alleged attempts by Prigozhin and the linked internet Research Agency to interfere in US elections.
