The U.S. says the Wagner Group is a transnational criminal organization. Here's why

The U.S. Treasury Department this week designated the Wagner Group a significant transnational criminal organization — part of an effort to crack down on an entity responsible for a growing number of atrocities in Ukraine.

The Wagner Group — a private military company owned by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin — first took to the battlefield during the Russian annexation of Crimea. But its operations have expanded considerably in the years since. Wagner fighters have appeared in conflict zones from Syria to Mali to Ukraine, and are notorious for the brutality of their tactics.

Canada doesn't have a designation equivalent to Treasury's "transnational criminal organization" tag, although the Department of Public Safety says the Wagner Group and Prigozhin are under Canadian sanctions. But critics say the federal government needs to do more to rein in an increasingly dangerous organization. 

Russian special forces commander Dmitry Utkin is believed to have founded the Wagner Group in 2014.

"Commander Dmitry Utkin, who is a neo-Nazi, named the group after Hitler's favourite composer, the German composer Wagner," said Molly Dunigan, senior political scientist at the RAND corporation, an American global policy think tank.

"The culture of the group historically has just been so brutal and really no-holds-barred, in terms of brutality against civilians in the population in which they operate."

The group initially hired elite-level fighters to operate in Crimea. But the organization has evolved in different ways over the years — especially during the current conflict in Ukraine.

"Over time, Wagner has spread its wings, so to speak," said Christopher Spearin, professor of defence studies at the Canadian Forces College and Royal Military College of Canada. "It had a presence in Syria and was most likely the largest Russian ground force there. More recently, it's had a presence in Africa."

Wagner fighters have been hired to fight insurgencies, protect government leaders and defend mining, timber and other resource extraction operations, he said. 

"Wagner charges money for their mercenary activities. They get paid a significant amount of money ... that's one way that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and other oligarchs can enrich themselves," said Jessica Davis, president of Insight Threat Intelligence.

By working in resource-rich African countries, the Wagner Group helps Russia gain access to both resources and money — at a time when the country faces significant economic hurdles due to worldwide sanctions.

"The Wagner Group really fills a number of Russian foreign policy objectives," Davis said. "They use (African) resources for Russia to shore up its currency, particularly in the face of sanctions. But also to control and gain access to resources."

Experts say it's difficult to determine exactly how many Wagner people are on the ground in Ukraine, although most estimate the operation likely involves tens of thousands of fighters.

The scope of this operation means it can't function with special forces fighters alone. Wagner is now known for hiring men with limited military training and recruiting straight from the Russian prison system.