Seventh Report - Guns for gold: the Wagner Network exposed

The government agrees with the recommendation, stating it has a dedicated team and Senior Official coordinating its response to Wagner and driving international cooperation. It outlines ongoing efforts, including monitoring activities, collecting evidence, and addressing conflict-related sexual violence through its 2022 PSVI strategy, and confirms the HMG Russia Unit will continue to coordinate efforts to counter Wagner.

The government agrees intelligence gathering on Wagner is a priority and confirms it has sufficient resources, uses network-mapping capabilities, and continually refreshes its understanding through extensive monitoring and international cooperation. It also states that a cross-Government taskforce on Wagner is already established.

The government agrees on the need to tackle Wagner with coordinated action and a mix of incentives, outlining existing approaches including declassification of intelligence and increased communication efforts to expose the group's activities.

The government describes its existing approach to offering security and development support to partner countries, noting it provides long-term diplomatic, defence, and development support tailored to individual African countries, with a focus on states like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Ghana.

The government accepted the recommendation and laid a draft proscription order which came into force on 15 September, officially adding the Wagner Group to the list of proscribed terrorist organisations and making support for it a criminal offence.

The government states it has a dedicated team coordinating its response to the Wagner Group and Russian PMSCs, implying the structural issue raised by the committee is being addressed. It also commits to continuing bilateral and multilateral work, dedicating new resources, and working with allies.

The government agrees, stating that a dedicated team led by a senior official in the HMG Russia Unit coordinates the cross-government response to Wagner and Russian PMSCs, working with the FCDO's Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation (OCSM) to monitor and address these challenges.

The government partially agrees, providing details on its new four-strand approach to countering state threats, which includes building a deeper understanding of PMSC activity and capability, increasing resilience, deepening cooperation, and using full powers to contest malign operations, specifically agreeing on the importance of tracking Russian and Chinese PMSCs.

The government agrees on holding Wagner accountable, detailing its support for the International Criminal Court and the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group in Ukraine, including £2.5 million for domestic investigations. It commits to continuing support for prosecuting atrocity crimes by Wagner fighters in Ukraine.

The government provides an evidence base by detailing its leading role in developing and implementing international voluntary initiatives like the Montreux Document and Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights, citing their effectiveness and the UK's global promotion efforts, including specific training funding.

The government agrees with the committee's description of the Wagner Network, stating it prioritizes intelligence gathering, has sufficient resources to track Wagner, and continually assesses the group and its impact through various sources and international partners. It confirms ongoing monitoring of at-risk countries and efforts to dissuade engagement with Wagner.

The government agrees with the committee's assessment of the Wagner Network's harmful impact and atrocities, demonstrating this by proscribing the Wagner Group as a terrorist organization on September 15th, making support for it a criminal offense and enabling the seizure of its assets.

The government partially agrees with the committee's observation, highlighting its ongoing efforts to counter Wagner's destabilising influence and promote stability in Africa through diplomatic, defence, and development support, including £63.7m spent via the CSSF Africa in 2022/23.

The government agrees with the conclusion, welcoming the support for its priority. It outlines increased efforts to highlight Wagner's abuses, enhanced policy coordination, existing sanctions, and commits to consider further designations, improve sanctions enforcement, and explore additional measures to counter illicit finance.

The government partially agrees with the conclusion, explaining its new four-strand approach to countering state threats outlined in the Integrated Review Refresh, which takes a 'whole of government view' and uses a full range of powers to tackle organizations like Wagner, including efforts to deepen understanding, foster cooperation, and contest malign operations of PMSCs globally.

The government partially agrees with the conclusion, detailing its ongoing engagement with international legal frameworks related to PMSCs. It commits to engaging with the International Code of Conduct Association to advance debate on definitions, monitoring UN Convention progress, and promoting the Montreux Document to raise industry standards and state accountability.

The government agrees that intelligence gathering on Wagner's activities is a priority and states it has sufficient resources and ongoing efforts to track the network globally, regularly assessing its impact and coordinating with international partners.

The government partially agrees, stating that the Wagner Group was fully designated in 2022, and it continues to use sanctions policy, designating 13 additional individuals and businesses in July. It explains that its sanctions regime has different statutory requirements and approaches (e.g., ownership and control) compared to the EU and US, and welcomes the committee's analysis for future consideration.

The government partially agrees, reaffirming that the Wagner Group was fully designated in 2022 and explaining that the UK's sanctions regime relies on 'ownership and control' provisions, meaning subsidiaries are not designated separately. It also notes recent additional designations and will consider the committee's analysis in detail for future action.

The government acknowledges the committee's compilation of Wagner-linked names, stating they already use sanctions policy to deter and disrupt malign Wagner activity, having designated the Wagner Group in its entirety and recently sanctioned 13 additional individuals and businesses.

The government partially agrees with the concern, outlining its new four-strand approach to countering state threats from organisations like the Wagner Group, which includes building deeper understanding, increasing resilience, deepening cooperation, and using full powers to contest malign PMSC activities.

The government partially agrees with the observation, detailing its new four-strand approach to countering state threats from organisations like Wagner, which involves building deeper understanding of PMSCs, increasing resilience, deepening cooperation, and using the full range of powers available.

The government defends its voluntary model of PMC regulation by citing its leading role in developing and implementing international initiatives like the Montreux Document and the Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights, providing examples of their effectiveness and the UK's global promotion efforts.