Russia Hires Its Own Africa Army to Succeed Wagner’s Mercenaries
- Kremlin bids to revive Cold War-era clout on the continent
- Russia forms Africa Corps to control Wagner’s business empire
A portrait of Yevgeny Prigozhin at a makeshist memorial in Moscow on Aug. 27.
Photographer: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia, in a new push to expand its influence in Africa, is recruiting for an armed force to replace the Wagner group’s mercenaries across the continent.
The Africa Corps would bolster Russia’s military presence with what it says would be a network of planned Defense Ministry-controlled bases, in a bid to revive Moscow’s Cold War-era clout on the continent at a time of steeply declining Western influence. It would also allow the Kremlin to consolidate control of Wagner’s business network in Africa, including potentially lucrative mining interests, following the death last year of the group’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.