Russia’s military and political leadership is making significant efforts to expand its presence on the African continent. In particular, by June this year, the Kremlin intends to form its “African Expeditionary Corps”.
While Russia is using conscripts and prisoners in the war against Ukraine, part of its regular troops are being sent to West Africa. This program is supervised by the Russian General Staff, which has set up a training center based on the 45th Special Forces Brigade in Kubinka near Moscow. It is planned to be moved to the south of Russia to Krasnodar, from where they will be airlifted to Africa. Supply will be provided by sea through the port of Novorossiysk.
This corps will be manned by recruiting contract soldiers from Russian military and security units and militants from private military companies.
In particular, in March, Russia intends to send the first batch of such legionnaires to Togo to support the local dictator Faure Gnassingbé. This contingent will provide enhanced security during the parliamentary and local elections to ensure that they are held in a way that is favorable to Gnassingbé, who usurped power in 2005.
Russia also intends to establish naval bases on the coast of Togo to meet its contingent’s needs further. These bases will ensure the export of critical raw materials from the countries where the corps will be deployed.
Another group comprises members of one of the Russian PMCs that provides security for the junta leader in Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré. The bridgehead in this country is being expanded to turn it into a North-South logistics hub from Libya to Togo.
The Russians want to create another base in Libya, where they actively support the regime of Khalifa Haftar. They plan to gain a foothold in the port of Tobruk and expand their presence at the Al-Jufra air base.
In general, Russia plans to gain a foothold in the Sahel countries, including Libya, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, and the Central African Republic, where Wagner’s military forces were previously active. The location of the future base has not been disclosed, but it will be formed there.
Such rapid growth of Russia’s and China’s presence on the African continent aims to draw these countries into an alliance of anti-democratic forces.
It is no coincidence that the African Corps is named similarly to the Third Reich’s Expeditionary Corps. This is one of the unrealized dreams of the Russian emperors, and later the Soviet Union, to acquire colonies on the African continent. The current Putin regime in Russia is becoming increasingly unable to disguise the natural source of its inspiration for its expansionist policy. Putin intends to enlist the support of African dictators to whom he offers to rent his guard and, in return, receives resources from these countries and platforms for Russian power projection in this region of the world.
As we can see, Russia has begun exporting “green men” services amid the international community’s inability to condemn its expansive, aggressive policy adequately. Dictators around the world will be able to order the services of “proper escort” at gunpoint to the polls to simulate a pseudo-vote. Such cooperation will generate new waves of migrants to EU countries and widen the ideological gap between the populations of these African countries and the democratic world.
Russia also continues to recruit mercenaries for its army in these countries, promising them high incomes and benefits. However, once in Russia, they are used as extras in “meat assaults” by Russian troops along with “Storm Z” units. The National Resistance Center calls on you to report facts of foreigners participating in the war on the side of the Russian Federation. Your message allows us to promptly identify the methods of attracting such mercenaries and stop their recruitment into the ranks of the occupation army.
