Page:Seventh Report - Guns for gold- the Wagner Network exposed.pdf/33

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33. In February, the Minister told us that “we must treat [the Wagner Network] very seriously as a destabilising threat”. The UK Government’s response focuses on Ukraine, which is the Wagner Network’s “main theatre of operations”. The Minister called the UK’s lethal aid and support to the Ukrainian military “front and centre of our effort”.189 As of 23 May 2023, the UK was the second largest donor of military assistance to Ukraine and had committed £4.6 billion so far. Calling it “gruesome”, Christo Grozev of Bellingcat told us that “Ukraine is doing part of the job for all of us now” by killing so many Wagner fighters on the battlefield.

34. In addition to defence support to Ukraine, the UK is responding to the Wagner Network via:


 * •sanctions (see paragraphs 43–61),


 * •bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, including work with partner states on “nation building and investing in institutions”;


 * •ministerial statements of condemnation; and


 * •tracking activity by the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office.

The UK has also committed to [emphasis added]:

"a new approach to countering state threats below the threshold of armed conflict, organising cross-government activity into four lines of effort: protecting ourselves, our allies and partners from the impact of this activity; engaging domestically and internationally to raise awareness of it and to deepen cooperation on countering it; building a deeper understanding of states’ activity and how to respond effectively; and competing directly with these states in creative and assertive ways, when appropriate."