Russian businessman blasts US sanctions over Wagner

Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin reacted sarcastically on Friday to new US sanctions against his Wagner private military group, and the Kremlin said Washington had been smearing Wagner without reason for years.

The US has designated Wagner, which is fighting on the Russian side in some of the most intense battles of the Ukraine war, as a transnational criminal organisation responsible for widespread human rights abuses.

Prigozhin made a statement via his press service, saying: We conducted an internal check on the subject of the Wagner group's crimes, but found nothing damaging. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, said it was not the first time Washington had demonised the group.

This has been going on for a long time. As a rule, such statements from Washington are unfounded. There is no evidence, no confirmation, nothing is presented to the public, he said.