Africa Corps (Russia)

Last updated
Africa Corps
Dates of operation2023-present
SizeSeveral thousand
Part of Russian Ministry of Defence
Battles and wars

The Africa Corps, also called Russian Expeditionary Corps (REK), is a Russian mercenary group controlled and managed by the Russian government, to support Russian political influence and Russia-aligned governments in Africa. The Corps largely took over the operations of the Wagner Group PMC in Africa, by subsuming and rebranding its structures. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

History

The Expeditionary Corps was established by the Russian Ministry of Defence, soon after the death and possible decapitation of Wagner's leadership by Russian authorities in 2023, [4] [5] when a plane with its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, crashed. In the following, the MoD made way for a fully government-controlled PMC scene in Russia, after the prior rivalry between the Russian MoD and Wagner. [6] [7]

The formation cooperates with other government-controlled structures, like the 1st Expeditionary Volunteer Assault Corps' (Redut) "Bears Brigade" in Africa. [8] Konstantin Mirzayants, a purported leader of Redut, is reportedly closely involved in the MoD's operations in Africa and the creation of the Africa Corps. [9]

The Africa Corps was also deployed to fight for Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the 2024 Kharkiv offensive. [10]

On 3 December 2024, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (HUR) claimed that Russia plans to deploy the Africa Corps to help Syrian government forces against offensives by Syrian rebels, which captured Aleppo and many other important cities and settlements, [11] threatening Russian influence in Syria. [12] However, the Russian government refrained from bolstering Assad, leading to the fall of his regime - instead prioritising to concentrate forces in Ukraine. [13]

Organization

The Corps' creation is part of a broader Russian strategy to increase its influence in Africa, where it competes with the United States as part of a broader geopolitical rivalry. The Africa Corps operates through a mix of mercenaries and volunteers, and estimates of its size vary. [14] [15]

The Africa Corps has a smaller and more integrated role compared to Wagner, focusing on providing military support, training, and counterterrorism cooperation with local Russia-aligned governments in countries like Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and the Central African Republic. The Russian government aims to use this entity to project influence, filling the security vacuum left by the withdrawal of Western powers, especially France, from the Sahel region. Russia also seeks to gain control over strategic resources like uranium, particularly in Niger, as well as leverage migration routes for geopolitical purposes. [16] [17] [18] [19]

Sanctions

In November 2024, the United Kingdom sanctioned the Africa Corps along the Espanola Battalion and Bears Brigade. According to foreign secretary David Lammy, the goal is to counter illegal Russian activities, hinder the destabilisation of African countries and to interrupt supply for the Russian war effort in Ukraine. [20]

Activities

Main areas

By country

Burkina Faso

On 24 January 2024, military personnel of Russia's Africa Corps, which were intended to replace Wagner, arrived in Burkina Faso to provide security, including for Traoré. It was reportedly planned that the 100 personnel would be expanded to 300. [25] It was revealed that a military base for the Africa Corps was established in Loumbila. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavonic Corps</span> Russian Hong Kong-registered military contractor

The Slavonic Corps was an 18 January 2012 established firm registered in Hong Kong as a private military contractor (PMC) that operated during the Syrian civil war for 113 days after which many of these fighters established the Wagner Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin</span> Militant jihadist organisation

Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin is a Salafi Jihadist organisation in the Maghreb and West Africa formed by the merger of Ansar Dine, the Macina Liberation Front, al-Mourabitoun and the Saharan branch of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Its leaders swore allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G5 Sahel</span> Organisation of the governments of Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali and Mauritania.

G5 Sahel or G5S is an institutional framework for coordination of regional cooperation in development policies and security matters in west Africa. It was created on 16 February 2014 in Nouakchott, Mauritania, at a summit of five Sahel countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. It adopted a convention of establishment on 19 December 2014, and is permanently seated in Mauritania. The coordination is organised on different levels. The military aspect is coordinated by the respective countries' Chiefs of Staff. The purpose of G5 Sahel was to strengthen the bond between economic development and security, and together battle the threat of jihadist organizations operating in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wagner Group</span> Russian private military company

The Wagner Group, officially known as PMC Wagner, is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Putin. The Wagner Group has used infrastructure of the Russian Armed Forces. Evidence suggests that Wagner has been used as a proxy by the Russian government, allowing it to have plausible deniability for military operations abroad, and hiding the true casualties of Russia's foreign interventions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – Sahel Province</span> Islamic State affiliate

The Islamic State – Sahel Province(ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), is an Islamist militant group adhering to the ideology of Salafi Jihadism. IS-GS was formed on 15 May 2015 as the result of a split within the militant group Al-Mourabitoun. The rift was a reaction to the adherence of one of its leaders, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, to the Islamic State. From March 2019 to 2022, IS-GS was formally part of the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP); when it was also called "ISWAP-Greater Sahara". In March 2022, IS declared the province autonomous, separating it from its West Africa Province and naming it Islamic State – Sahel Province (ISSP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmitry Utkin</span> Russian military officer (1970–2023)

Dmitry Valerievich Utkin was a Russian military officer and mercenary. He served as a special forces officer in the GRU, where he held the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was the co-founder and military commander of the Russian state-funded Wagner Group, with his military alias reportedly being Wagner. Utkin was a neo-Nazi. He rarely made public appearances, but was allegedly the commander of the private military company, while Yevgeny Prigozhin was its owner and public face. Utkin was awarded four Orders of Courage of Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamist insurgency in the Sahel</span> Insurgency throughout the Sahel and West Africa

An Islamist insurgency has been ongoing in the Sahel region of West Africa since the 2011 Arab Spring. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Bakhmut</span> Battle in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and 2023

The battle of Bakhmut was a major battle between the Russian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian Armed Forces for control of the city of Bakhmut, during the eastern Ukraine campaign, a theatre of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is regarded by some military analysts to be the bloodiest battle since the end of World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état</span> Military coup détat in 2022

A coup d'état took place in Burkina Faso on 30 September 2022, removing Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba over his alleged inability to deal with the country's Islamist insurgency. Damiba had come to power in a coup d'état eight months earlier. Captain Ibrahim Traoré took over as interim leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Traoré</span> Military leader of Burkina Faso since 2022

Ibrahim Traoré is a Burkinabé military officer who has been the interim leader of Burkina Faso since the September 2022 coup d'état that ousted interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. At age 36, Traoré is currently the youngest serving state leader in the world, and the youngest serving president.

Patriot is a Russian private military and security company (PMSC), which has been deployed by Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has already conducted operations in Africa.

The Wagner Group, also known as PMC Wagner, a Russian paramilitary organization also described as a private military company (PMC), a network of mercenaries, and a de facto unit of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) or Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, has conducted operations in Ukraine since early 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redut</span> Russian private military company acting as mercenary umbrella organization

Redut, also known as Redoubt, Redut-Antiterror, Redut Security or Centre R, formerly known as "Shield", is a registered Russian Private Military Company (PMC) that is a part of the "Antiterror-family" — a group of PMCs that protect commercial operations of Russian companies. It is currently deployed by Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to an RFE/RL investigation, concurrent "Redut" is controlled by the GRU and acts as a proxy umbrella organization for mercenaries, managing finances, recruitment and logistical supply of various formations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fakel (company)</span> Russian private military company

Fakel is a private military company which is currently deployed by Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wagner Group activities in Africa</span> Russian paramilitary group operations in Africa

The Wagner Group is a Russian state-funded paramilitary organization, also described as a private military company (PMC) and as a network of mercenaries. Since 2017 it has provided military support, security and protection for several governments in Africa. In return, Russian and Wagner-linked companies have been given privileged access to those countries' natural resources, such as rights to gold and diamond mines, while the Russian military has been given access to strategic locations such as airbases and ports. In the case of the Central African Republic, Bohumil Doboš of the Institute of Political Studies in Prague described Wagner's operation in that country as a neo-imperialist and neo-colonial kind of state capture. The group has been blamed for human rights abuses and for killing civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coup Belt</span> Geopolitical neologism for an African region

The Coup Belt is a modern geopolitical concept and neologism which emerged during the 2020s to describe the region of West Africa, Central Africa and the Sahel that is home to countries with a high prevalence of coups d'état. Following the 2023 Nigerien coup, these countries form a continuous chain stretching between the east and west coasts of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance of Sahel States</span> Confederation of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso

The Alliance of Sahel States (ASS) is a confederation formed between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. It originated as a mutual defense pact created on 16 September 2023 following the 2023 Nigerien crisis, in which the West African political bloc ECOWAS threatened to intervene militarily to restore civilian rule after a coup in Niger earlier that year. All three member states are former members of ECOWAS and currently under the control of juntas following a string of successful coups, the 2021 Malian coup d'état, the September 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état, and the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état. The confederation was established on 6 July 2024. It is against the policy of neocolonialism in Africa and the world. It is also anti-French and anti-ECOWAS in outlook, as it disagrees with many of their policies.

Events in the year 2024 in Mali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Kuznetsov (soldier)</span>

Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov, nom de guerre Ratibor, is a Russian soldier who co-founded the Wagner Group alongside Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin. His first role in the mercenary company was as commander of the 1st Attack and Reconnaissance Company in 2014, and fought in Syria, Libya, Sudan, and Ukraine. Following the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2023, Kuznetsov joined the Chechen Akhmat forces in Ukraine with other ex-Wagner mercenaries.

References

  1. ↑ Minde, Nicodemus (7 March 2024). "Russia's Africa Corps – more than old wine in a new bottle". Institute for Security Studies Africa. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  2. ↑ Bryjka, Filip; Czerep, Jędrzej (23 May 2024). "Africa Corps - a New Iteration of Russia's Old Military Presence in Africa" (PDF). Polish Institute of International Affairs . Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  3. ↑ Naranjo, José (2023-12-23). "Russia expands into the Sahel with its new brand: Africa Corps". EL PAÍS . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  4. ↑ "Passenger plane crashes in Russia, Wagner chief Prigozhin possibly on board". Novaya Gazeta . 23 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "What now for Wagner after Prigozhin's death?". BBC . 25 August 2023. Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  6. ↑ Peltier, Elian (25 June 2024). "Year After Failed Mutiny, Russia Tightens Grip on Wagner Units in Africa". The New York Times . Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  7. ↑ Bobin, Frédéric; Le Cam, Morgane (2023-12-17). "'Africa Corps': Russia's West African presence rebranded". Le Monde . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  8. ↑ Eydoux, Thomas; Roger, Benjamin (2024-07-14). "The Bear Brigade, the Kremlin's new paramilitary outfit in Africa". Le Monde . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  9. ↑ Dalton, Ben; Rondeaux, Candace; Weidt, Merle (22 February 2024). "Targeting the Wagner Group: How the U.S. Can Strengthen Sanctions Against Russia". New America.
  10. ↑ Denisova, Kateryna (2024-05-24). "UK Defense Ministry: Russia deploys its Africa Corps for Kharkiv Oblast offensive". The Kyiv Independent . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  11. ↑ "Russia to send mercenaries to Syria to reinforce its troops, Ukrainian intelligence claims". Kyiv Independent . 3 December 2024.
  12. ↑ "Russia is evacuating its military fleet from Syria following an offensive by rebels". The Odessa Journal . 3 December 2024.
  13. ↑ "'A personal defeat for Putin' What the failure to protect Assad could mean for Russia's future". Meduza . Archived from the original on 11 December 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  14. ↑ Karr, Liam (12 April 2024). "Africa File Special Edition: Russia's Africa Corps Arrives in Niger. What's Next?". Institute for the Study of War . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  15. ↑ Zenn, Jacob (9 July 2024). "Brief: Russia's Africa Corps Appears to Be Recruiting African Militants". The Jamestown Foundation . Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  16. ↑ Zenn, Jacob (2024-09-11). "Revisiting Russian "Africa Corps'" Organizational Structure - FMSOFMSO". Foreign Military Studies Office . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  17. ↑ "Africa Corps: Russia's new force in Africa". African Digital Democracy Observatory. 2024-05-23. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  18. ↑ Schwikowski, Martina; Tiassou, Kossivi Tiassou; Koena, Jean Fernand (9 February 2024). "After Wagner, Russia makes new military plans in Africa – DW – 02/09/2024". Deutsche Welle . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  19. ↑ Banchereau, Mark; Donati, Jessica (2024-06-06). "What to know about Russia's growing footprint in Africa". AP News . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  20. ↑ "Verbindungen zum Kreml: Großbritannien sanktioniert russische Söldnergruppen in Afrika". Der Spiegel (in German). 7 November 2024.
  21. ↑ "Russian troops deploy to Burkina Faso". Reuters . 25 January 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  22. ↑ Ewokor, Chris; Armstrong, Kathryn (2024-04-12). "Russian troops arrive in Niger as military agreement begins". BBC . Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  23. ↑ "Russian defense systems, trainers arrive in Niger". Voice of America . 2024-04-12. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  24. ↑ Karr, Liam (4 December 2024). "Africa File Special Edition: Syria's Potential Impact on Russia's Africa and Mediterranean Ambitions". Critical Threats .
  25. ↑ Hoije, Katarina (25 January 2024). "Russian Troops Begin Burkina Faso Deployment to Bolster Security" . Bloomberg . Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  26. ↑ "Au Burkina Faso, la première base militaire russe d'Africa Corps". Le Monde.fr (in French). 6 March 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.