DAKAR, SENEGAL -- When abuses were reported in recent weeks in Mali 鈥� fake graves designed to discredit French forces; a massacre of some 300 people, mostly civilians 鈥� all evidence pointed to the shadowy mercenaries of Russia鈥檚 Wagner Group.
Even before these feared professional soldiers joined the assault on Ukraine, Russia had deployed them to under-the-radar military operations across at least half a dozen African countries. Their aim: to further President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 global ambitions, and to undermine democracy.
The Wagner Group passes itself off as a private military contractor and the Kremlin denies any connection to it or even, sometimes, that it exists.
But Wagner鈥檚 commitment to Russian interests has become apparent in Ukraine, where its fighters, seen wearing the group鈥檚 chilling white skull emblem, are among the Russian forces currently attacking eastern Ukraine.
In sub-Saharan Africa, Wagner has gained substantial footholds for Russia in Central African Republic, Sudan and Mali. Wagner鈥檚 role in those countries goes way beyond the cover story of merely providing a security service, experts say.
鈥淭hey essentially run the Central African Republic,鈥� and are a growing force in Mali, Gen. Stephen Townsend, the commander of U.S. armed forces in Africa, told a Senate hearing last month.
The United States identifies Wagner鈥檚 financer as Yevgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch who is close to the Russian president and sometimes is called 鈥淧utin鈥檚 chef鈥� for his flashy restaurants favored by the Russian leader. He was charged by the U.S. government with trying to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the Wagner Group is the subject of U.S. and European Union sanctions.
Russia鈥檚 game plan for Africa, where it has applied its influence as far north as Libya and as far south as Mozambique, is straightforward in some ways, say analysts. It seeks alliances with regimes or juntas shunned by the West or facing insurgencies and internal challenges to their rule.
The African leaders get recognition from the Kremlin and military muscle from Wagner. They pay for it by giving Russia prime access to their oil, gas, gold, diamonds and valuable minerals.
Russia also gains positions on a strategically important continent.
But there鈥檚 another objective of Russia鈥檚 鈥渉ybrid war鈥� in Africa, said Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
Siegle said Russia is also waging an ideological battle, using Wagner as a 鈥渃oercive tool鈥� to undermine Western ideas of democracy and turn countries toward Moscow. Putin wants to challenge the international democratic order 鈥渂ecause Russia can鈥檛 compete very well in that order,鈥� Siegle said.
鈥淚f democracy is held up as the ultimate aspirational governance model, then that is constraining for Russia,鈥� Siegle said.
Rather, Wagner promotes Russian interests with soldiers and guns, but also through propaganda and disinformation, as Prigozhin has done for Putin before.
In Central African Republic, Wagner fighters ride around the capital Bangui in unmarked military vehicles and guard the country鈥檚 gold and diamond mines. They have helped to hold off armed rebel groups and to keep President Faustin-Archange Touadera in power, but their reach goes much further. Russian national Valery Zakharov is Touadera鈥檚 national security advisor but also a 鈥渒ey figure鈥� in Wagner鈥檚 command structure, according to European Union documents accusing the mercenary group of serious human rights violations.
A statue erected last year in Bangui depicts Russian soldiers standing side by side to protect a woman and her children. Russia is cast as the country鈥檚 savior and pro-Russia marches have been held in support of the war in Ukraine and to criticize former security partner France 鈥� though several protesters said they are paid.
鈥淎 Central African adage says that when someone helps you, you have to reciprocate. This is why we have mobilized as one to support Russia,鈥� said Didacien Kossimatchi, an official in Touadera鈥檚 political party. 鈥淩ussia has absolved us of the unacceptable domination of the West.鈥�
Kossimatchi said Russia was 鈥渁cting in self-defence鈥� in Ukraine.
Such support from African countries is a strategic success for Russia. When the United Nations voted on a resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine, 17 of the 35 countries that abstained from the vote 鈥� nearly half 鈥� were African. Several other African nations did not register a vote.
鈥淎frica is fast becoming crucial to Putin鈥檚 efforts to dilute the influence of the United States and its international alliances,鈥� said a report in March by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a non-profit set up by the former British prime minister.
Russia鈥檚 strategy in Africa comes at a minimal cost economically and politically. Analysts estimate Wagner operates with only a few hundred to 2,000 mercenaries in a country. Many are ex-Russian military intelligence, Siegle said, but because it鈥檚 a private force the Kremlin can deny responsibility for Wagner鈥檚 actions.
The real price is paid by ordinary people.
The people of Central African Republic aren鈥檛 more secure, said Pauline Bax, Africa Program deputy director of the International Crisis Group think tank. 鈥淚n fact, there鈥檚 more violence and intimidation,鈥� she said.
France, the U.S. and human rights groups have accused Wagner mercenaries of extra-judicial killings of civilians in Central African Republic. A UN panel of experts said private military groups and 鈥減articularly the Wagner Group鈥� have violently harassed people and committed rape and sexual violence. They are just the latest accusations of serious abuses by the group.
Central African Republic in 2021 acknowledged serious human rights violations by Russians, which forced Russian ambassador Vladimir Titorenko to leave his post.
The Wagner group has responded with a charm offensive 鈥� creating films designed to please the public, sponsoring beauty pageants and distributing educational materials that promote Russia鈥檚 involvement in Africa. Russian is now being taught in universities.
Russia has taken its Central African Republic blueprint to Mali and elsewhere in Africa. In Mali, there has been an 鈥渦prooting of democracy,鈥� said Aanu Adeoye, an analyst on Russia-Africa affairs at the London-based Chatham House think tank.
Following coups in 2020 and last year, France is withdrawing troops from its former colony that had been helping fight Islamic extremists since 2013. Wagner moved in, striking a security deal with Mali鈥檚 new military junta, which then expelled the French ambassador and banned French TV stations. Tensions with the West have escalated. So has the violence.
Last month, Mali鈥檚 army and foreign soldiers who witnesses suspected were Russian killed an estimated 300 men in the rural town of Moura. Some of those killed were suspected extremists but most were civilians, Human Rights Watch said, calling it a 鈥渄eliberate slaughter of people in custody.鈥�
This week, when French forces handed over control of the Gossi military base, suspected Wagner agents hurriedly buried several bodies nearby and a Russian social media campaign blamed France for the graves. The French military, however, had used aerial surveillance after their withdrawal to show the creation of the sandy graves.
Both atrocities bear the hallmarks of Wagner mercenaries and Russia鈥檚 foreign policy brand under Putin, say several analysts.
鈥淭hey have no concerns about minor things like democracy and human rights,鈥� said Chatham House鈥檚 Adeoye.
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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writer Jean Fernand Koena in Bangui, Central African Republic contributed.
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