Putin’s ‘nazi-themed’ successor to Wagner stakes claim in Africa

The contingent’s arrival in Burkina Faso marks a new push by Moscow to expand its influence on the continent.

Yevgeny Prigozhin is seen in a video released after his death, discussing risks to his life just days before his private plane crash in Russia. Picture: Reuters

Russian mercenaries have claimed a fresh foothold in ­Africa with the first deployment of the Kremlin’s new private army, which was established to replace the mutinous Wagner group.

The contingent’s arrival in Burkina Faso marks a new push by Moscow to expand its influence in Africa, which, before his attempted coup in June, was outsourced to Wagner’s commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The new force, structured under President Vladimir Putin and the Defence Minister, has kept a Nazi theme. Wagner, in honour of Adolf Hitler’s favourite composer, has been replaced by the Africa Corps, the name of Germany’s World War II expeditionary forces.

Its mission, however, remains the same: to keep the leaders of client states in power, to sow anti-Western feeling and extract resources to help sidestep international sanctions and fund Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Blood Gold ­Report, a research unit based in Washington, calculates that the Kremlin has earned $US2.5bn from trade in African gold since Mr Putin invaded Ukraine two years ago.

Wagner was technically disbanded after Prigozhin’s death in a plane crash, weeks after his ­failed uprising, but remains active, although the Africa Corps is actively recruiting Prigozhin’s men to help it to establish a network of defence ministry bases in west and central Africa. Wagner’s first stake in Africa came in 2017 when it was hired by the leader of the Central African ­Republic to prop him up in ­return for access to diamonds, uranium and gold. Billboards have also gone up in Russia’s ­African strongholds seeking local men to join its forces, promising “high cash compensation, free medical assistance, a secure future for your family”.

Photographs of a IL-76 military transport plane delivering 100 men and equipment to Ouagadougou were published by the Africa Corps on Telegram. The message said their mission was to “ensure the safety of the country’s leader Ibrahim Traore and the Burkinabe people” and a further 200 men would join them shortly. Confirming their arrival, Mr Traore, who came to power via a coup in 2022, said that “if necessary” the Russians would join his forces fighting the Islamist insurgency that has taken hold on its borders and those of neighbouring Niger and Mali.

The eviction of French troops and UN peacekeepers has ­increased insecurity in the Sahel, the vast expanse south of the ­Sahara Desert that has been a hotspot for violent extremism. Last year was the bloodiest ever in the three countries, with 14,000 people killed.

Moscow has exploited the chaos to forge alliances and last year signed a pact with the military juntas in the trio of disaffected former French colonies. Their increased reliance on Russia was signalled last week by declaring their withdrawal from west Africa’s economic bloc, Ecowas, which they claimed acted as Western puppet.

The Times