Moscow Using Former Wagner Fighters to Establish Military Might in Africa: Analysts

Polish experts say Russia’s Africa Corps has extensive plans for expansion, and has undermined Western interests and strategies on the continent.

Burkina Faso's Minister of Foreign Affairs Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore (L), Burkina Faso's Minister of Solidarity, Humanitarian Action, National Reconciliation, Gender and Family Nandy Some-Diallo (C) and Russian ambassador to Burkina Faso Aleksei Saltykov (R) talk next to bags of Russian wheat donated to Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou on Jan. 26, 2024. Fanny Noaro-Kabre/AFP via Getty Images

JOHANNESBURG, South Arica—Russia’s Africa Corps, the successor to the Wagner Group, is strengthening in terms of strategy, capacity, manpower, and military equipment, defying predictions by Western intelligence agencies, according to a new report by the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM).

In August 2023, following the suspected assassination by the Kremlin of Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin after he led a rebellion against President Vladimir Putin’s military commanders, forecasts were that Russia’s military influence in Africa would wane.