The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently announced sanctions against a Mali-based leader of the Russian military company "Wagner" (the Wagner Group).
“Treasury’s sanctions against the most senior Wagner Group representative in Mali identify and disrupt a key operative supporting the group’s global activities,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, in a Treasury Department press release. “The Wagner Group’s presence on the African continent is a destabilizing force for any country that allows for the deployment of the group’s resources into their sovereign territory.”
The new OFAC sanctions were imposed against Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov (Maslov), who heads paramilitary units for the Wagner Group and is its principal administrator in Mali, the release said.
The Wagner Group and its two top leaders, Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin and Dmitriy Valeryevich Utkin, were previously sanctioned for allegedly acquiring military equipment for use in Russia’s current war against Ukraine.
Maslov is a Russian national tasked by Prigozhin and Utkin to lead the Wagner Group's mercenary units in Mali. In his role, Maslov has secured living accommodations for Wagner Group forces deployed to Mali and also set up meetings between Prigozhin and government officials from several African nations.
Wagner Group operations have contributed to the destabilization of countries in Africa and around the world and the group has taken part in widespread human rights abuses and the theft of natural resources, OFAC said. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has increasingly relied on the Wagner Group in his war against Ukraine as the Russian military struggles in the conflict. The Wagner Group is also suspected of fraudulently obtaining military equipment from foreign suppliers for its operations in Mali and rerouting them to the battlefield in Ukraine.
When sanctions are imposed, all property and interests belonging to sanctioned entities and individuals in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked (frozen) and must be reported to OFAC. Assets owned 50% or more, directly or indirectly, by one or more blocked persons are blocked as well. Also, any persons or foreign financial institutions that conduct certain transactions with blocked entities and individuals could be subject to sanctions.
