INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
production, Russian-backed mercenary groups operating in Sub-Saharan Africa and a GRU agent involved in the use of a Novichok nerve agent in
Foreign Office said in a statement.The sanctions include 28 suppliers of machine tools, microelectronics, drone components and other
Foreign Office added.Mercenary-related sanctions target three Kremlin-linked private military groups, three companies affiliated with the
Wagner Group and 11 individuals accused of threatening peace and security in Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic, as well as
committing human rights abuses across Africa.The Foreign Office noted that Britain is the first G7 country to sanction Africa Corps, an
umbrella organization overseeing security operations in Africa following the reorganization of Wagner after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin
a Russian GRU agent linked to the Novichok attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March 2018.The poisoning
left a police officer seriously ill, and a local woman who came into contact with the nerve agent later died.
