The U.S. State Department believes that the so-called Wagner Group is using third countries to purchase and transport weapons through them for the war against Ukraine. Washington is aware that mercenaries of the Wagner Group are trying to move the purchased equipment through Mali to use it against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Source. This was stated by a representative of the Department during a briefing.
"Wagner is willing to use fake documents for such transactions," said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Monday, May 22:
"There are indications that Wagner attempted to purchase military systems from foreign suppliers and deliver these weapons through Mali as a third party.
The U.S. does not currently see any indication that such purchase and sale transactions have been finalized or executed. U.S. agencies continue to monitor the situation and will soon be ready to release more information, Miller said.
Instead, Washington reminded that the United States has already imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and organizations that support Wagner's military operations.
Background. As a reminder, the day before, the founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced the withdrawal of Wagner servicemen from Bakhmut.