According to European officials, Russian mercenaries are progressively growing their connections in Africa in addition to the crucial role they played in the battle in Ukraine as Wagner fighters. In the interim, they invade regions with abundant natural resources, forging allies with the locals while Western soldiers are expelled from the region.

Western security officials claim that Wagner warriors and their guides are collaborating with the Central African Republic’s government to seize control of regions that are rich in priceless minerals that can then be transferred via Sudan. Wagner also wants to improve ties with the Mali military junta and broaden Russian influence in Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast.

attacks meant to drive out rebels and seize power

Wagner has steadily increased his military, political, and economic dominance in Africa in recent years with the Kremlin’s help. In response, a large number of African nations have resisted joining sanctions against Russia or denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Wagner’s expanding sway in Africa is assisting President Putin in his efforts to project power and gather money from other nations. With the governments of the Central African Republic and Mali, the group, which is run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a personal friend of Vladimir Putin, has inked agreements for military support and security assistance since 2018. It has also been granted mining rights.

Wagner’s presence in Africa now equals that of the United States, which has approximately 6,000 troops and humanitarian workers on the continent, with roughly 5,000 men stationed there. According to a report issued by the UN this week, Russian instructors collaborated with local soldiers in the Central African Republic to conduct operations aimed at driving out rebels and seizing control of at least four sites known for their diamond mining.

These assaults were planned to create a route from Wagner’s mines in the Central African Republic to the mineral trading hub in Dubai via Sudan, where the gang maintains close ties with a local leader.

The UN report even claimed that in April of last year, in Beria, in the southeast of the nation, Russian guides and soldiers of the African nation launched an attack against rebels.

This fighting had an impact on the neighborhood and led to a spike in kidnappings. In Igbando, another region near Beria that is rich in diamonds, local rebels were engaged in combat by Central African Republic and Russian forces in December.

Sanctions were imposed by the US Treasury

Two Soviet-style aircraft were employed by the Wagner group members to try and conquer the Central African Republic’s resource-rich east. The two Russian planes were given to the Central African Republic’s Ministry of Defense in 2021 by the airline Kratol (Kratol), which the US believes provided air transportation to Wagner.

According to Bakratol, who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, they gave the planes to Mining Industries, a business based in the Central African Republic, which then gave them to the Bangui government.

Later, the Russians and the army of the Central African Republic also employed this aircraft to support counterinsurgency operations.

Kratol was sanctioned last month for giving Wagner “aircraft for the transfer of personnel and equipment between the Central African Republic, Libya, and Mali,” the US Treasury Department responded by announcing the sanctions.

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the ruler of Sudan, made an unofficial agreement in December to help Wagner and the military of the Central African Republic establish a route for moving mining equipment, gold, and diamonds.

Wagner and Burkina Faso have been talking about a new security agreement in recent weeks. After a decade of fighting the insurgents, the military authority there urged the French forces to depart.

Wagner is allegedly training Christian rebels from Chad, whose government has strong ties to France, according to Western intelligence authorities. The organization’s boss, Prigozhin, brags about its growth in Africa and runs advertisements to recruit fighters.

Many people have been anticipating the opening of historic tourism destinations, and now they may book trips to a number of African nations! It was said in one of Wagner’s advertising that was posted on January 10 to the organization’s Telegram channel. A payment of 240,000 rubles, or around $3,410, was advertised, along with incentives and life and health insurance.

Wagner imitated her success in Syria, where she first trained local forces and then deployed them to Libya and eventually to Ukraine, by recruiting African fighters, often known as “Black Russians.”

The latest indication of improving ties between the Kremlin and the military government that seized power in Mali in a coup in 2021 was the visit last week by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Bamako, the country’s capital. This was the first official visit by a senior Russian diplomat to the West African nation.

The Malian government invited Mognar military instructors that year. Russia provided the government of Mali with Sukhoi attack aircraft and a troop transport helicopter in January of last year.

Ivory Coast is the next nation in view.

Lavrov added that he had discussions about mining and energy potential for Russian enterprises while he was in Mali after his visit. Four days later, Lavrov paid a visit to Sudan and hailed the “favorable conditions” established for Russian mining companies doing business there, one of which is the largest and is managed by the Wagner organization. He defended the Wagner organization’s operations in other African nations by claiming that they arrived there “at the direct invitation of the administrations.”

More least 500 people were killed in a massacre carried out by Wagner warriors in the Fulani region in April of last year, according to survivors. According to the UN assessment, an impartial investigation is necessary because Wagner’s forces and Mali’s army fighters may have both committed war crimes.

When Prigozhin was asked for his opinion, he refuted the Journal’s allegation but did not elaborate on the specifics. Requests for comment from the Hemati and the Malian and Burkina Faso troops’ spokespeople went unanswered.

Last month, Prigozhin emphasized that it was “absolutely vital” to send fighters to Africa. This country will just vanish if I remove 100 fighters from there right now, he remarked on Telegram.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group and a close friend of Putin, photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko for the

It is challenging to predict the organization’s earnings from operations in Africa, according to a senior US official. However, the official noted that “the tendency is apparent.” She needs to be stopped,

Ivory Coast appears to be Wagner’s next target nation, according to General Custer. For Wagner’s group, which has always concentrated on the continent’s weakest nations, the nation will present a far greater challenge because it has one of Africa’s greatest economies and long-standing ties to France. However, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State’s affiliates are becoming a greater menace to the Ivory Coast.