US sanctions head of Russia's Wagner Group for arms trafficking in Mali and Sudan.

The US has accused Russia's Wagner Group of supplying surface-to-air missiles to Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, prolonging the conflict and causing further chaos in the region. The US Treasury Department has also imposed sanctions on Wagner's leader in Mali, accusing him of trying to obtain weapons for Russia's war in Ukraine. The US aims to reduce violence in Sudan before working towards a permanent end to the fighting and returning the country to civilian rule. The State Department has accused Wagner of seeking to smuggle material acquisitions to aid Russia's war in Ukraine through Mali using false paperwork.