Russia steps out from shadows in Africa with state paramilitary
Africa Corps, which is believed to be run by the Russian defence ministry, is stepping up its presence and filling the gap left by Wagner, the mercenary group founded by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, which announced its departure from Mali in early June.
The Kremlin always denied it was behind Wagner, whose founder died in a plane crash in 2023 after earlier that year leading his fighters in an unprecedented but short-lived rebellion where they advanced towards Moscow.
"The usage of plausible deniability is now replaced by managed visibility," Tbilisi-based security researcher Nicholas Chkhaidze told AFP.
"The transfer of Wagner assets in Mali to Africa Corps, which is a state-coordinated mechanism of influence is more than symbolic, as it demonstrates a strategic transition from proxy to a power chain operated by the government."
Africa Corps is expanding its presence as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, which are led by juntas who seized power in coups between 2020 and 2023, have turned away from France and moved closer to Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow intended to develop comprehensive cooperation with African countries. "This cooperation also extends to such sensitive areas as defence and security," he said.
'Myriad risks'
Wagner, whose brutal methods have been denounced by rights groups, is Russia's best-known mercenary group.
Following Prigozhin's death, the Russian defence ministry has worked to incorporate Wagner units and dismantle some of its operations.
According to the RAND Corporation, a research organisation, Russian mercenaries are clearly present in five countries apart from Mali: Burkina Faso, Libya, Niger, Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
Christopher Faulkner, of the US Naval War College, said the transition was both a pragmatic and a symbolic step.
"The handover to Africa Corps means that Russia is comfortable having a ministry of defence asset openly operating there," he told AFP.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Central African Republic is the "last bastion" of Wagner operations in Africa, with the Russian defence ministry trying to replace Wagner with Africa Corps there, too.
Beverly Ochieng, an Africa analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Kremlin sees the Sahel as a region where the Russians can have a geopolitical strategic presence and counter Western influence.
"The Kremlin will continue to provide direct support to Africa Corps, they'll continue sending in shipments of equipment and weapons," she said.
"We'll see a steady pace of violence by the Al-Qaeda group in resistance to the involvement of Russia," she added.
However, the Institute for the Study of War warned the shift to more overt Russian state presence in Africa could lead to "myriad domestic and geopolitical risks for the Kremlin".
"The risk to Russian prestige may lead Russia to get more deeply entrenched in long-term conflicts to 'save face', which would ensnare the Kremlin in its own series of 'forever wars'", the think tank said.
"Wagner was more immune to such long-term entanglements and even abruptly withdrew from places, such as Mozambique, when the benefits outweighed the costs."
- 'Brutal tactics' -
Analysts do not expect tactics of the Russian paramilitary groups to change despite the shift, pointing to human rights violations.
"It is not unlikely to expect that the Africa Corps could present a more professional approach, but the operational playbook of including violence will remain intact," said Chkhaidze.
"The brutal counterinsurgency tactics, such as massacres and collective punishment, are structural, not just personal," he added.
According to the RAND Corporation, at least half of Africa Corps' personnel are Wagner veterans, with priority given to those who fought in Ukraine, many of them former convicts.
According to a report published last week by a journalist collective, in its more than three years in Mali, Wagner kidnapped, detained and tortured hundreds of civilians.
The victims, who were interviewed by a consortium of reporters led by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories, spoke about waterboarding, beatings with electrical cables and being burned with cigarette butts.
Bakary Sambe, executive director at the Timbuktu Institute think tank in Dakar, said for Malians the distinction between the two Russian paramilitary groups was largely artificial.
"In the eyes of the population, this is merely a name change with no positive developments in one of the worst security situations in 10 years," Sambe said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Thais and Cambodians refuse to quit homes on clash frontier
"At 5:00am every day, I hear the loud bangs and booms. Then I run into the woods for cover," the 53-year-old told AFP in the village of Baan Bu An Nong in Surin province, just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the fraught frontier. His family of five fled to the capital Bangkok on the first day of clashes on Thursday, but he remains behind with their flock of chickens, three dogs and 14 prized buffalo. "How could I leave these buffaloes?" he asked, his eyes brimming with emotion. "I'd be so worried about them. After the strikes I go and console them, telling them 'It's okay. We're together'." Thailand and Cambodia's clashes have entered their fourth day after a festering dispute over sacred temples ignited into cross-border combat being waged with jets, tanks and group troops. Peace talks between leaders are scheduled for Monday in Malaysia, the Thai government has said. In the meantime, at least 34 people have been killed on both sides, mostly civilians, and more than 200,000 have fled their homes along the 800-kilometre border -- a rural area patched with rubber and rice farms. But on both sides of the tree-clad ridge marking the boundary between the two countries there are many who refuse to evacuate. As nearby blasts shake Cambodian restauranteur Soeung Chhivling's eaterie she continues to prepare a beef dish, declining to abandon the kitchen where she cooks for troops and medics mobilised to fight Thailand. "I am also scared, but I want to cook so they have something to eat," said the 48-year-old, near a hospital where wounded civilians and troops are being treated. "I have no plan to evacuate unless jets drop a lot of bombs," she told AFP in Samraong city, just 20 kilometres from the Thai frontier, where most homes and shops are already deserted. 'I'd rather die at home' Back on the Thai side, Pranee Ra-ngabpai, a researcher on Thai-Cambodian border issues and a local resident, said many who have chosen to stay behind -- like her own father -- are men who hold traditional and stoic values. "He is still there in the house right now and refuses to leave," Pranee said. "There's this mindset: 'If I die, I'd rather die at home' or 'I can't leave my cows'." Baan Bu An Nong has been designated a "red zone" -- meaning it is high risk for air strikes, artillery barrages and even gun battles between ground troops. But village co-leader Keng Pitonam, 55, is also reluctant to depart. Loading grass onto his three-wheeled cart to feed his livestock, he is now responsible for dozens of neighbours' animals as well as their homes. "I have to stay -- it's my duty," Keng told AFP. "I'm not afraid. I can't abandon my responsibilities," he said. "If someone like me -- a leader -- leaves the village, what would that say? I have to be here to serve the community, no matter what happens." His local temple has become a makeshift donation and rescue hub, parked with ambulances inside its perimeter. "I have to stay -- to be a spiritual anchor for those who remain," said the abbot, declining to give his name. "Whatever happens, happens." Huddled in a bunker just 10 kilometres from the border, Sutian Phiewchan spoke to AFP by phone, pausing as his words were interrupted by the crackle of gunfire. He remained behind to fulfil his obligations as a volunteer for the local civil defence force, activated to protect the roughly 40 people still staying there. "Everyone here is afraid and losing sleep," the 49-year-old said. "We're doing this without pay. But it's about protecting the lives and property of the people in our village." © 2025 AFP
LeMonde
19 hours ago
- LeMonde
'In Eastern Europe, it is often mainstream media that spreads false information and promotes illiberal ideas'
In light of growing evidence of democratic backsliding and rising authoritarianism worldwide, digital media are increasingly seen as central drivers of these trends – both for their well-documented role in amplifying illiberal and radical right-wing politics, and for their known susceptibility to foreign manipulation. This perception is arguably reinforced by media coverage of some of the recent elections, from France to the United States to Romania, highlighting the importance of video platforms, influencers and podcasters for electoral mobilization, as well as raising alarms about Russian interference. However, if we step back from the narrow focus on electoral campaigns in countries with relatively pluralistic news markets, and take a look at the broader political information environment shaping citizens' opinions, we can often see that it is the mainstream media and domestic actors – rather than social media and hostile foreign powers – who assume the central role in the dissemination of false information, and in the promotion of illiberal attitudes. Our own research on the rise of illiberalism in Eastern Europe highlights many such examples, while at the same time showing that under certain conditions – namely, wherever the majority of the mainstream media market has been captured by illiberal political actors or their business allies – social media can act as channels of resistance against the forces of illiberalism. Major channels of propaganda In Eastern Europe, some of the most potent manifestations of the crucial role of mainstream media in the illiberal public sphere are currently observed in Hungary and Serbia. In Hungary, Viktor Orban's Fidesz party has effectively colonized the vast majority of the media market, and turned major media brands into channels of government propaganda, starting with the public service broadcaster MTVA. In Serbia, the key outlets upholding the illiberal regime of Aleksandar Vucic have been commercial TV stations such as Pink TV, TV Happy, TV Prva and TV92, as well as the main national tabloids such as Informer, Alo, Kurir and Srpski telegraf, all owned by Serbian companies with close ties with the ruling elites.
Local France
21 hours ago
- Local France
French left urges Macron to act over US plan to destroy contraceptives
A State Department spokesperson told AFP this week that "a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain" birth control products from "terminated Biden-era USAID contracts." The US Agency for International Development, the country's foreign aid arm, was dismantled by Donald Trump's administration when he returned to office in January, replacing former president Joe Biden. Under the plan, some $9.7 million worth of implant and IUD contraceptives stored in Belgium are reportedly set to be incinerated in France. An open letter signed by French Green leader Marine Tondelier and several female lawmakers called the US decision "an affront to the fundamental principles of solidarity, public health and sexual and reproductive rights that France is committed to defending." In the letter, they urged the French president "not to be complicit, even indirectly, in retrograde policies," saying women's contraception products such as IUDs and implants were intended for "low- and middle-income countries." "Cutting aid for contraception is shameful, destroying products that have already been manufactured and financed is even more mind-boggling," Tondelier told AFP. The Greens urged Macron to request the suspension of the plan "as part of a joint initiative with the European Commission." They also called on him to back humanitarian organisations that say they are ready to redistribute the contraception products. Separately, Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of the hard left France Unbowed (LFI) party, also urged Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to take action. "You have a responsibility to act to prevent this destruction, which will cost lives," she said on X. Advertisement "These resources are vital, particularly for the 218 million women who do not have access to contraceptive care." The US plan has sparked outrage from global health NGOs, with Doctors Without Borders denouncing the "callous waste." "It is unconscionable to think of these health products being burned when the demand for them globally is so great," said Rachel Milkovich of the medical charity's US office. The State Department spokesperson said the destruction will cost $167,000 and "no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed." Doctors Without Borders says that other organisations have offered to cover the shipping and distribution costs of the supplies, but the US government declined to sign off. US lawmakers have approved slashing some $9 billion in aid primarily destined for foreign countries.
