US warns Wagner Group seeking arms, slaps sanctions on group's head in Mali

FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a camouflage uniform walks out of PMC Wagner Centre, which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Russak

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. on Thursday said Russian mercenary force Wagner Group may be working through Mali and other countries to hide its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, and accused it of supplying a Sudanese paramilitary with surface-to-air missiles.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it imposed sanctions on Wagner's chief in Mali as it said the group's employees may have been attempting to work through the west African country to acquire equipment such as mines, drones, radar and counterbattery systems for use in Ukraine.