Instead of Wagner. Russia has 8000 militants in Africa and wants to expand – HUR
Russia, the aggressor country, has 8,000 militants in nine African countries and plans to expand to three more. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) in response to a request from LIGA.net.
"The full-scale war in Ukraine and Prigozhin's 'rebellion' did not affect the Kremlin's plans to further expand its military presence on the African continent. Priority attention is paid to strengthening Russia's positions in the countries of the Sahel region and the Gulf of Guinea," the intelligence service said.
According to the HUR, the total number of units of the African Corps (the structure that replaced the Wagner terrorist group – Ed.) is about 8,000 fighters deployed in Libya, Mali, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Niger, Sudan, Chad and Togo.
The intelligence service also noted that Moscow has plans to deploy military contingents in Guinea, the Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
Among other things, there are about 200 terrorists from the African Corps in Niger: among their main tasks are providing security for the President of the country and training units of the local Armed Forces, organized at the airport of the capital Niamey, the HUR reported.
According to him, Russia and the Nigerian leadership agreed to increase the corps' contingent to organize the protection of mineral deposits, energy and infrastructure facilities.
"The maintenance of the Russian military contingent in Togo gives Russia the opportunity to maintain a system of logistics support for the units of the Russian Armed Forces in Africa through the seaport of the capital Lomé, which has access to the Atlantic Ocean," the ministry added .
The aforementioned African Corps, which replaced the Wagner Group units in the region, is directly subordinated to the Russian Ministry of Defense – its supervisor is Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the DIU noted.
Thus, the intelligence added, after the formal subordination of the Wagnerians to the structure of the African Corps of the Russian Defense Ministry in 2025, Mali is witnessing a transformation in the approaches and general nature of the Russian military presence.
"The new model is declared as less direct and more 'institutional'. The activities of the African Corps focus on training, logistics, protection of strategic facilities and defense consulting. Although previously, Wagner's units actively participated in assault operations, punitive raids and joint offensive operations in cooperation with the Malian army," the intelligence summarized.
- The HUR also reported LIGA.net that the amount of resources Russia receives from African countries has not decreased – On the contrary, the occupiers are working even harder to increase their number.
- According to intelligence, as of July 2025, Russia keeps a limited amount of military equipment in Syria, as the Kremlin is trying to maintain its ability to influence the further course of events in the Middle East and Africa.