The Russian mercenary Wagner Group has long turned into a widely influential network that also pursues economic activities, especially in Africa. At the same time, Russia is known to always prioritize Russia’s, and therefore the Kremlin’s, interests.
The group’s boss, Russian billionaire Evgeny Prigozhin, called for a public showdown with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in June 2023, but was killed in a mysterious plane crash soon after.
Since then, the Wagner Group has penetrated deeper into the Russian state structure.
Evgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner Group, died under mysterious circumstances after rebelling against Russian President Vladimir Putin Image: Wagner Account/AA/picture Alliance
Russia’s unofficial proxy
“For Russia, the Wagner Group complements official diplomatic channels and is absolutely essential,” Hager Ali, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Area Studies in Hamburg, told DW.
He added that besides military equipment and diplomatic initiatives such as the recent BRICS summit, there were also areas of activity that the Russian government could not necessarily pursue through official channels.
“The international rules that apply to formal military forces are completely different from the international rules that apply to private military contractors,” she explained.
After Prigozhin’s death, various units were incorporated into Russia’s so-called Afrika Korps and placed under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The name “Afrika Korps” comes from the German expedition of the same name during Nazi Germany, just as the Wagner Group shares its name with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s favorite composer, Richard Wagner. It alludes to the military.
“The Russian state wanted to control mercenaries, but it didn’t want to touch the existing personnel structure on the ground,” said Ulf Lessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German policy and civic education think tank. ” he told DW.
“That’s why Afrika Korps is now a holding company, so to speak, which Wagner took over,” he added.
But the Wagner Group is not the only vector used by the Russian state to influence politics on the African continent. Russia is also engaged in efforts to spread anti-Western propaganda in African societies through social and traditional media, and hosts a number of cultural institutions, including the Russia House in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). There is.
Russia House director Dmitri Shti told DW that the house has hundreds of visitors who come to learn Russian and attend theatrical and musical performances.
“Right now, I’m the Russian ambassador, the unofficial ambassador of Russian policy in this country,” Siti said in an interview.
The EU and the US consider him a senior Wagner official and have placed his name on international sanctions lists. He is accused of serious human rights violations in the Central African Republic. While Human Rights Watch speaks of targeted killings and torture in 2022, it also highlights the ongoing impunity of Wagner Group criminals.
The 35-year-old said he was being made a scapegoat.
Dmitri Siti, director of the Russian Cultural Institute in Bangui, tells DW that he is “Russia’s unofficial ambassador” as observers accuse him of gross human rights violationsImage: DW
What is Wagner Group doing in Africa?
Few countries have closer ties to the Wagner Group than the Central African Republic. It concluded a formal security agreement with Russia in 2018, and is currently developing a military airport as a hub for Russia.
Wagner’s mercenaries protect President Faustin-Arcange Touadera and assist government forces in their efforts to maintain the upper hand in the ongoing civil war. Media reports say there are about 1,500 to 2,000 fighters on the ground.
In exchange for security services, companies in the extensive Wagner network develop gold mines in the Central African Republic and log valuable tropical timber. Some people brew beer, sell vodka, and trade sugar in Bangui.
The Wagner Group is also actively participating in the Libyan conflict. And Libya and Central Africa are the centers of activity for the Wagner Group in Sudan.
Even before Sudan’s civil war broke out in April 2023, the group was in close contact with Sudan’s Rapid Support Force (RSF), training troops and guarding gold mines.
But the Kremlin also views the other warring party, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as an important partner for trade and establishing a naval base in the Red Sea.
Ali told DW that the new formation of the Wagner Group under the Afrika Korps would allow the Kremlin to pursue a clearer strategy, adding: “Russia, on the other hand, has access to resources through the Wagner Group.” But on the other hand, Russia has been able to pursue a clearer strategy.” It can now maintain and even deepen its footprint in Sudan through official diplomatic channels. ”
That way, Russia, which is dependent on foreign currency for the Ukraine war, could reap double benefits by not only selling new weapons systems but also incorporating the Wagner Group in knowledge transfer, experts say. Explained.
Russia’s Wagner Group offers ‘regime survival package’ to African leaders Image: French Army/AP/Photo Union
Regime Survival on sale
Another focus of the Wagner Group’s activities is in the Sahel region. Anti-Western rebels are in power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all dependent on Russian aid.
“Mari’s original idea was to bring in Wagner on behalf of the Western powers to fight and obtain weapons,” Lessing told DW. However, this goal is now changing, he added.
For example, Burkina Faso’s coup leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, surrounds himself with Russian bodyguards. There is also evidence that the Wagner Group is offering “regime survival packages” in Mali and Niger.
“Afrika Korps is also present in Niger, but there is no sign that they are fighting. I am sure they are there to protect the regime,” Lessing said, adding that Russia is He added that this is especially true now that the deployment has been announced. Installing air defense guns that are “unnecessary to fight jihadists.”
Researcher Ali agreed, saying, “This (survival package) includes expertise and experience as well as practical resources to defend against potential civilian uprisings and gather natural resources.” It may also include support,” he told DW.
In the future, more African heads of state may accept such “survival packages” offered by the Wagner Group.
How Russia is leveraging its soft power in the Central African Republic
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This article was originally published in German.
