Seimas of Lithuania recognizes Russia’s Wagner Group as terrorist organization

 In a resolution adopted today, the Lithuanian parliament recognized Russia’s Wagner Private Military Company as a terrorist organization, whose members pose a threat to the security of the state and society, as well as strongly condemned the use of any mercenary groups for aggression in Ukraine.

This is said in a statement published on the website of the Seimas, Ukrinform reports.

"Since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s invasion into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the military personnel of the Russian Federation and mercenaries of Wagner Private Military Company, which is actively involved in hostilities on the side of the aggressor, have been committing systematic serious crimes of aggression - killing and torturing the civilian population of Ukraine, bombarding residential buildings and other civilians objects, which is equivalent to terrorism," the document says.

It is noted that all present 117 deputies voted for the resolution of the Seimas (in total, the Seimas have 141 members - ed.).

It is emphasized that Wagner PMC is a shadow tool of the Russian government — it receives military equipment from the Russian government for free, including Grad MLRS, tanks, and armored vehicles, uses Russian military infrastructure, and its mercenaries are trained by the Russian military intelligence.

The resolution of the Seimas called on other countries to recognize Russia’s Wagener PMC as a terrorist organization. The document also emphasizes the need to adopt a law on the prevention of terrorism in Lithuania with specific criteria under which the government or an institution authorized by it will approve the list of terrorist organizations, as well as the sanctions defined in the current laws.