The Lithuanian parliament has unanimously voted to designate the Wagner Group, Russia’s private mercenary company, as a terrorist organisation, LRT reports.
According to the TV channel, the parliament’s resolution stresses that Wagner Group mercenaries pose “a threat to the state and public security” and since the beginning of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine have been committing
“systematic, serious crimes of aggression — killing and torturing civilians in Ukraine,
bombing homes and other civilian objects — that amount to terrorism”, the resolution reads.
Moreover, the Wagner Group receives military equipment and hardware from the Russian government free of charge, including Grad missile systems, tanks, and armoured vehicles, while its mercenaries receive training by the Russian military intelligence unit.
“Wagner, a private military company founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, <…> is Russia’s shadow instrument of power,” the parliament stressed.
Wagner Group was designated as an international organised crime gang and a terrorist organisation by Ukraine on 6 February. In January, the US recognised the Wagner Group as a “transnational criminal organisation”.
