The European Union (EU) announced on Saturday new sanctions against Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group for “human rights abuses” in Africa, targeting, in particular, several senior leaders of the group in the Central African Republic and its leader in Mali, AFP reported.

Eleven individuals – 9 in Africa and 2 in Ukraine – and seven entities linked to the group were added to the EU bloc’s asset freeze and travel ban list.

The Wagner group, which is actively fighting on the side of the Russian army in Ukraine, was already included in the list of sanctions by the EU in 2021.

These new sanctions were adopted “taking into account the international dimension and seriousness of this group’s activities, as well as its destabilizing influence on the countries where it operates,” the European Council said in a statement.

“The activities of the Wagner group are a threat to the population of the countries where it operates and to the European Union,” said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

The European Council clarified that eight members of Wagner and seven organizations covered by these new sanctions are subject to the EU’s human rights sanctions regime for the group’s activities in the Central African Republic and Sudan.

The ninth member of “Wagner” came under the EU sanctions regime, which specifically concerns Mali. We are talking about the head of the “Wagner” PMC in this country, where the group’s fighters “were involved in acts of violence and numerous violations of human rights, including extrajudicial executions.”

Several of the people targeted by EU sanctions in the Central African Republic are senior members of Wagner, including the president’s “security adviser” Faustin Archangel Touadera and the group’s in-country spokesman.

Wagner’s group installed itself in the Central African Republic at Touader’s invitation to quell the rebellion, and its growing numbers forced the French army out of the country late last year.

Gold and diamond companies linked to Wagner in the Central African Republic and Sudan are also subject to European sanctions, as well as the Central African radio station Lengo Sengo, which was sanctioned “for online influence operations on behalf of Russia and Wagner’s group in order to manipulate public opinion “.

The Wagner paramilitary group, founded in 2014, is considered an international terrorist organization by the United States. The United States, which has been trying to resist Russian influence in Africa for several years, accuses Wagner’s group of “violations of human rights and exploitation of natural resources in Africa.”

The group has established itself as a major player in the conflict in Ukraine, and its mercenaries have also been seen in Syria and Libya.

In an update on Saturday, two more members of Wagner’s group were added to the list of those targeted by EU sanctions punishing Russia for its war in Ukraine. These two paramilitary formations are the commanders of “Wagner”, which should have been involved in the Russian occupation in January of the Ukrainian city of Soledar.