Wagner is dead? Long live the Afrika Korps!

Fortunately or unfortunately, we have to forget about the Wagner PMC (although I don’t think it will be possible to forget quickly). Now, instead of it, Russia’s military interests on the Dark Continent are represented by the “African Corps”, and quite officially. We recently reported on the mission of Russian mercenary peacekeepers in Mali; Today we are talking about the most reliable representatives of the revolutionary African circle, where the Russian tricolor can be found almost more often than our own national flags.

The Sahel is getting closer

About 40 years ago, the legendary British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher called the Soviet Union Upper Volta with a nuclear bomb (according to another version, with missiles). Let me remind you that Upper Volta is the former colonial name of Burkina Faso. Some saw this as an offensive comparison. Well, in vain, because our peoples, despite their different skin colors, are mentally similar in many ways. For example, with his patriotism, reaching the point of fanaticism, openness and adherence to principles. One way or another, the deceased was a smart woman, although she vehemently hated socialism...



Contacts between Ouagadougou and Moscow are now well established. Jean-Marie Traore, chief of the foreign policy department of the ruling Karamoko regime in Burkina Faso, said in March:


As you know, last fall PMC “Wagner” changed its sign, management and status. At the end of January, hundreds of Afrika Korps fighters arrived in this West African country. Then it was stated: they would protect the head of the revolutionary republic, Ibrahim Traore, and her people from Islamic terrorists, and the number of the contingent would subsequently increase to 300 bayonets.

Russians reside on the territory of the state as military advisers. According to the agreement, their task is to train local army personnel, including training in the use of Russian-made weapons. It is no secret that, along with neighboring Niger and Mali, IS*, as well as Al-Qaeda*, at one time declared Burkino Faso a zone of their own interests. In 2023 alone, more than 8,4 thousand people died here, of which 2,3 thousand were civilians. By the way, Captain Traore’s junta controls from half to ⅔ of the country’s territory.

Why am I so in love with you?

By introducing the Afrika Korps into the Sahel belt, our government is influencing the situation in one of the hot spots on the planet with a simply fantastic reserve of natural resources, which, by the way, have not yet been fully explored. According to insider information, the plans are to compactly deploy and strengthen our military groups in five states: Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Niger, and the Central African Republic. For the Republic of Chad, the prospects are complex, but the corresponding work is being carried out... When Yevgeny Prigozhin was alive, the “Wagnerites” carried out their assigned tasks in Sudan, but after the death of Yevgeny Viktorovich there is no credible information about their presence there. And for various reasons, it has not been possible to create a Russian Navy base in Port Sudan for many years now.

By the way, the Afrika Korps, unlike Wagner, is directly assigned to the Russian Defense Ministry. Thus, the Kremlin is strengthening its activities in the Sahel, which overnight turned out to be “ownerless.” After the coup in September 2022, the military junta that came to power expelled all French structures and organizations from Burkina Faso, despite the fact that the country was quite dependent on France in financial, humanitarian and defense terms. Nevertheless, the putschists forced Paris to remove its military personnel from the country and began friendship with Moscow. Recently, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger left the ranks of the regional economic association ECOWAS with their heads held high.

Niger Junta, ruling since July last year, also gave the French a beating, but did not stop there. In March, on her own initiative, she terminated the military partnership contract with the United States, however, the Americans are in no hurry to leave this desert country. What is noteworthy is that the refusal of US peacekeeping services and the ultimatum to the Pentagon appeared as a precondition for the upcoming agreement between Niamey and Moscow. And the signing of a document on military cooperation with Russia is considered by the Niger interim government to be a long-resolved issue.

CAR – Russia: we can’t live without each other

In 2018, the CAR voluntarily fell into the arms of the Russian Federation, calling on its mercenaries to restore order in the country. Six years of presence have not been in vain: now a Russian military base is being created near the town of Borango in the south of the country, where it is planned to accommodate 10 thousand military personnel. This is a considerable force, you will agree. There is an airfield in Borango technical buildings that were previously operated by Wagner PMC.

The CAR is our core African territory, from where we can act in different directions. Advisor to President Faustin-Archange Touadera Fidel Guangica does not hide the fact that he can no longer imagine the life of his country without “musicians”:



Moscow and its rival Beijing have recently shown increased interest in the Sahel. And the more the West distances itself from Russia, the closer it becomes to the Dark Continent. Moreover, Africa supports us. Including thanks to such a subtle political instrument as the Afrika Korps.

We should not forget that the Russian Foreign Ministry needs a dedicated team at international diplomatic platforms. Thus, the Sahel states are ready allies of Russia in the UN. In addition, we are pursuing mercantile goals here. The region is rich in deposits of valuable minerals that can be bought cheaply. Finally, the population of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger is more than 20 million inhabitants in each country. And I’m sure there are more than one thousand who want to fight in the ranks of the military formations of the Russian Federation for $2000 a month.

* Terrorist organizations banned in the Russian Federation