A Chinese firm based in Luxembourg has been placed on the US sanctions list over allegations it has been supplying satellite images to the Wagner mercenary group, which is currently active in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On Thursday, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said the Chinese firm Spacety Luxembourg, which opened an office in Luxembourg back in 2019, has been providing the Wagner Group with satellite images and other data.
When questioned by RTL, the Ministry of the Economy confirmed it had been in contact with US authorities ahead of the sanctions.
An official joint statement from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Economics said that the decision would be taken very seriously.
An inter-ministerial group plans to analyse whether Spacety Luxembourg's operations should also be sanctioned in the Grand Duchy. Luxembourgish authorities are waiting for the US to supply them with additional information before making a decision.
Spacety Luxembourg is not currently on the EU's sanctions list.
The Wagner Group is a Russian private military company currently engaged in combat operations in Ukraine. The US Treasury Department described the group as having been involved in "Kremlin-backed combat operations around the world in support of Putin’s war on Ukraine," and has sanctioned it as a "transnational criminal organisation".
