{"id":149869,"date":"2025-06-10T23:25:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T23:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/russia-expands-its-military-presence-in-africa-while-waging-war-in-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T23:25:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T23:25:35","slug":"russia-expands-its-military-presence-in-africa-while-waging-war-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/russia-expands-its-military-presence-in-africa-while-waging-war-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia expands its military presence in Africa while waging war in Ukraine."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/picture>
Foto satelital difundida por Maxar Technologies que muestra un avi\u00f3n ruso Su-24 en una base a\u00e9rea en Bamako, la capital de Mali, el 14 de abril del 2025 (Maxar Technologies via AP)<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

While executing military operations in Ukraine, \u00a0Russia is expanding its military presence in Africa\u00a0 by sending sophisticated weaponry to conflict zones in Sub-Saharan Africa. Reports indicate that Moscow is circumventing sanctions imposed by Western countries, sending tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, and other high-value equipment to \u00a0West Africa\u00a0 utilizing cargo ships, according to findings by The Associated Press<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Using satellite imagery and radio signals, AP<\/i> traced a convoy of Russian-flagged cargo ships over a nearly month-long journey from the Baltic Sea. The ships were confirmed to be transporting howitzers, radio jamming equipment, and other military gear, as monitored by military officials in Europe. \u00a0These shipments could strengthen the burgeoning\u00a0 \u00a0Russian African Corps\u00a0 in Moscow’s rivalry with the United States, Europe, and China for increased influence on the continent.<\/p>\n

The African Corps, which is two years old with links to a covert branch of the Russian military, is a paramilitary group emerging at a time when U.S. and European troops have been forced to withdraw due to Sub-Saharan nations turning to Russia for security matters.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mali, Burkina Faso,\u00a0 and \u00a0Niger\u00a0 have faced combatants linked to \u00a0Al-Qaeda\u00a0 and the \u00a0Islamic State\u00a0 for over a decade.<\/p>\n

Initially, mercenary groups tightly associated with the \u00a0Kremlin\u00a0 entered the fray in \u00a0Africa\u00a0. However, increasingly, \u00a0Russia is deploying its military might and intelligence services more directly\u00a0.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe intend to expand our cooperation with African countries in all areas, emphasizing economic cooperation and investments,\u201d stated Dmitri Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson. \u201cThis cooperation includes confidential areas related to defense and security.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FOTO<\/picture>
FOTO DE ARCHIVO: Combatientes de la CMA (alianza rebelde tuareg) que se enfrentaron a mercenarios rusos de Wagner son vistos en el noreste de Mal\u00ed, cerca de Tinzaouaten, Mal\u00ed, julio de 2024, en esta captura de pantalla tomada de un v\u00eddeo distribuido (Coordinaci\u00f3n de Movimientos Azawad\/Handout via REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The \u00a0Baltic Leader\u00a0, weighing 8,800 tons, and the \u00a0Patria\u00a0, at 5,800 tons, are among hundreds of ships that Western nations have sanctioned to restrict funding to the \u00a0Russian war in Ukraine\u00a0. These vessels docked and unloaded in \u00a0Conakry, Guinea\u00a0, at the end of May, as shown through satellite images by AP<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Other ships made deliveries to the same port in January, which included tanks, armored vehicles, and other equipment later transported overland to neighboring Mali, according to military officials in Europe and footage from a Malian blogger documenting the lengthy convoy.<\/p>\n

Officials disclosed with the AP<\/i> about Russian operations anonymously. The AP<\/i> verified the blogger’s video and geolocated it on the \u00a0RN5 road\u00a0 leading to Bamako, Mali’s capital.<\/p>\n

After the most recent delivery in Conakry, trucks carrying armored vehicles, howitzers, and other Russian-manufactured equipment were again seen on the overland route to Mali.<\/p>\n

The Malian broadcaster ORTM<\/i> confirmed that the West African nation\u2019s military received new military equipment. An analysis by the AP<\/i> of the blogger’s video and footage taken at the same January delivery site helped identify a wide range of \u00a0Russian-manufactured equipment\u00a0, including \u00a0152 mm artillery guns\u00a0 and smaller variants.<\/p>\n

The AP<\/i> also identified a \u00a0BTR-80 armored personnel carrier\u00a0 with equipment to jam radio signals, along with \u00a0Spartak armored vehicles\u00a0 and other transports that were armored, some fitted with weapons. The shipment also included at least two small inflatable boats, one painted with a Russian flag on the hull, and fuel trucks, some marked with the word “flammable” in Russian on their sides.<\/p>\n

Military officials who spoke with AP<\/i> expressed their belief that \u00a0Russia is allocating the more powerful equipment\u00a0\u2014notably artillery pieces and jamming equipment\u2014for its African Corps, rather than for the Malian armed forces. The African Corps also appears to have received air equipment, as satellites detected at least one \u00a0Su-24\u00a0\u2014a supersonic variable-geometry fighter-bomber\u2014at an airbase in Bamako in recent months.<\/p>\n

\"ARCHIVO<\/picture>
ARCHIVO – El general Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, dirigente del concejo militar, saluda a los presentes durante una marcha tribal respaldada por las fuerzas militares en el Estado R\u00edo Nilo de Sud\u00e1n, el s\u00e1bado 31 de julio de 2019 (AP Foto\/Mahmoud Hjaj, archivo)<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

For years, French forces supported counterinsurgency operations in Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. However, France withdrew its troops following \u00a0coup d’\u00e9tats in Mali in 2020\u00a0 and 2021, in \u00a0Burkina Faso in 2022\u00a0, and in \u00a0Niger in 2023\u00a0. Russian mercenaries filled the void.<\/p>\n

The \u00a0Wagner Group\u00a0, the most notable, was deployed to Sudan in 2017 and expanded into other African nations, often in exchange for mining concessions.<\/p>\n

The group gained a reputation for brutality, and was accused by Western countries and UN experts of human rights abuses in countries such as \u00a0Libya\u00a0, \u00a0Mali\u00a0, and the \u00a0Central African Republic\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Of the 33 African countries where Russian military contractors were active, most were controlled by the Wagner Group, according to a study by the \u00a0RAND Corporation\u00a0\u2014a U.S. non-profit think tank focused on analysis and solutions to global security problems\u2014backed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n

However, after Wagner forces mutinied in Russia in 2023 and its leader, \u00a0Yevgeny Prigozhin\u00a0, died two months later in a suspicious plane crash, Moscow reinforced its grip: restructured Russian military operations in Africa and the Kremlin took greater control through the African Corps.<\/p>\n

This corps is overseen by the commander of \u00a0Unit 29155\u00a0, one of the most notorious branches of the shadowy \u00a0GRU\u00a0, the Russian military intelligence service, according to the European Union. Unit 29155 has been accused of covertly attacking Western interests for years, including sabotage and assassination attempts.<\/p>\n

In December, the EU imposed sanctions on Major General \u00a0Andrey Averyanov\u00a0 of Unit 29155, arguing that he is in charge of the operations of the African Corps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many African countries, Russian forces provide security to military juntas that have toppled legitimate democratic governments, which has severely undermined stability, security, and democracy in these countries,\u201d reads the EU’s sanction judgment. These operations are financed through the exploitation of the continent’s natural resources, as added in the ruling.<\/p>\n

The Russian Ministry of Defense has not responded to inquiries regarding Averyanov’s role in the African Corps.<\/p>\n

\"24<\/picture>
24 de junio de 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, propietario del Grupo Wagner de mercenarios, amenazando con marchar a sus soldados a Mosc\u00fa, el 24 de junio de 2023, en las afueras de Rostov del Don, Rusia (Cr\u00e9ditos: Pool \/ Grupo Wagner \/ Zuma Press \/ ContactoPhoto)<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Researchers and military officials claim that the flow of arms from Russia seems to accelerate the rise of the African Corps over the Wagner Group and assist in gaining the support of mercenaries who had remained loyal to the group. \u00a0The African Corps is also recruiting in Russia\u00a0, where it offers payments of up to 2.1 million rubles ($26,500), and even plots of land, for signing a contract with the Defense Ministry, in addition to bonuses when deployed.<\/p>\n

Days after the most recent delivery of equipment, Wagner announced its withdrawal from Mali, declaring \u201cmission accomplished\u201d in a post on Telegram.<\/p>\n

The African Corps posted in another announcement that it would remain there.<\/p>\n

The shift from Wagner to the African Corps in Mali could herald similar transitions elsewhere on the continent, said Julia Stanyard, a researcher on Russian mercenary activity in Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u00a0The introduction of this kind of completely new sophisticated weaponry and new armored vehicles is a significant change\u00a0,\u201d stated Stanyard from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, based in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

Armed groups in Mali have caused significant losses among Malian troops and Russian mercenaries. The group \u00a0Jama\u2019at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin\u00a0 (\u00a0JNIM\u00a0, or \u00a0Support Group for Islam and Muslims\u00a0) linked to \u00a0Al-Qaeda\u00a0, killed dozens of soldiers this month in an attack on a military base. Insurgents also killed dozens of Wagner mercenaries in northern Mali last July.<\/p>\n

Some of the more modern equipment may have been sent specifically in response to these types of attacks, military officials said. They explained that jamming equipment could help defend against improvised explosive devices detonated using phone signals.<\/p>\n

\"Una<\/picture>
Una captura de pantalla de un video distribuido muestra a personas que los rebeldes tuareg califican de mercenarios rusos de Wagner con soldados malienses en el noreste de Mali, cerca de Aguelhok, Mali, en julio de 2024 (Coordinaci\u00f3n de Movimientos Azawad\/Distribuido v\u00eda REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The recent convoy drew attention because the \u00a0Boykiy\u00a0, a Russian Navy warship, escorted the ships after departing in April from the Russian region of \u00a0Kaliningrad\u00a0, situated in the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n

In October, in what is seen as a hostile act, the radar systems of the Boykiy detected a French Navy maritime surveillance aircraft patrolling against alleged Russian attempts to sabotage underwater cables, according to military officials.<\/p>\n

Also in the convoy was a third sanctioned Russian freighter, the \u00a0Siyanie Severa\u00a0, which continued its journey while the \u00a0Baltic Leader\u00a0 and \u00a0Patria\u00a0 unloaded in Conakry and docked in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.<\/p>\n

Satellite images from May 29 show trucks lined up on the dock as the ship unloaded. The AP<\/i> was unable to verify whether the cargo included weapons or the final destination of the shipment, although the Wagner Group has maintained a strong presence in neighboring Central African Republic.<\/p>\n

(With information from AP)<\/i><\/p>\n


\n
General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foto satelital difundida por Maxar Technologies que muestra un avi\u00f3n ruso Su-24 en una base a\u00e9rea en Bamako, la capital de Mali, el 14 de abril del 2025 (Maxar Technologies via AP) While executing military operations in Ukraine, \u00a0Russia is expanding its military presence in Africa\u00a0 by sending sophisticated weaponry to conflict zones in Sub-Saharan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2865,4285,911,8157,299,228,36747,326],"class_list":["post-149869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mazagine","tag-africa","tag-expands","tag-military","tag-presence","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-waging","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}