The UK government said on Wednesday it would ban Russian mercenary outfit the Wagner Group by listing it as a terrorist organization, AFP reported.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverman said a draft proscription order had been put before parliament that would make it illegal to support the group and punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
The ban would put Wagner Group on a par with the Islamic State (ISIS), Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah which have also been proscribed by the British government.
"Wagner is a violent and destructive organization which has acted as a military tool of Vladimir Putin's Russia overseas," Braverman said in a statement quoted by AFP.
"While Putin's regime decides what to do with the monster it created, Wagner's continuing destabilizing activities only continue to serve the Kremlin's political goals. They are terrorists, plain and simple –- and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law," she said, adding that its operations were a "threat to global security".
Under the UK's Terrorism Act 2000, the home secretary has the power to proscribe an organization if they believe it is involved in terrorism.
The ban will make it illegal to support or assist the group or display its logo. Law enforcers will also be able to seize any property belonging to the private military company.
Once agreed, it will come into force on September 13.
Wagner Group was led by Yevgeny Prigozhin until he died in a plane crash in August, two months after he led a failed mutiny against Russian army chiefs.
After Prigozhin’s death, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Wagner Group fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state.