Africa Corps: Russia’s new force in Africa
The Russian-backed Africa Corps is extending the Wagner Group’s military operations on the continent.
The Wagner Group has operated in various African countries since at least 2017. A Russian government-funded paramilitary and private military company formerly led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s overall strength grew as its reach on the continent expanded. Then, on 23 June 2023, the group staged a rebellion after increasing tensions between the Russian ministry of defence and Prigozhin. Less than three months later, he was dead and speculation about Wagner’s future, including its African operations, began to spread.
Wagner’s operations in Africa and worldwide generally aligned with Russia’s interests, while offering the Kremlin the leverage of plausible deniability. Over time, the growth of Wagner’s economic and political interests in countries such as the Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan further entrenched its position as a significant player in the affairs of these countries, making the concerns about the group’s future in the post-Prigozhin era even more pertinent.
Wagner’s economic interests in CAR include mining companies such as Midas Ressources and Diamville; in Sudan, they include Meroe Gold, an M-Invest subsidiary. In CAR, Wagner also runs a timber harvesting company, Bois Rouge, and a media outlet, Lengo Sengo. On the political front, former Internet Research Agency operative Dmitry Sytyi, who was also the head of the Russian house in Bangui, served as CAR president Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s communications adviser. Similarly, another of Wagner’s operatives in CAR, Vitali Perfilev, served as Touadéra’s security adviser.
The first claim that a plan to replace Wagner operations in Africa was underway surfaced the week after the plane crash that claimed Prigozhin’s life. A pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, ‘VChK-OGPU’, posted a message that Wagner’s operations in Africa would be replaced by the government-controlled ‘Army Corps’. Over the following months, pro-Russian ‘Z’ channels on Telegram posted contact information, entry requirements, and recruitment posters for an ‘Africa Corps’ controlled by the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.
Wagner rebranded?
Prominent pro-Kremlin Telegram channel ‘VChK-OGPU’ was the first to mention Africa Corps as a replacement for Wagner on 18 October 2023. According to the post, the Corps would be led by Redut leader Konstantin Mirzayants. Redut, like Wagner, is a Russian private military company and Mirzayants is reportedly a former Russian paratrooper who was investigated for killing journalist Dmitry Kholodov in the 1990s.
The ‘VChK-OGPU’ post also mentioned Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko as a key player. Timchenko, who also allegedly bankrolls Redut, was collaborating with Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency to create the Corps ‘under the roof of the GRU’.
Since the inception of the Africa Corps, numerous similarities between its operations and those of Wagner have emerged. Both entities focus on the same countries, with Africa Corps actively recruiting former Wagner troops, and both engage in economic activities across the continent.
- Wagner and Africa Corps targeting the same countries
According to the Africa Corps Telegram channel created on 25 October 2023, the decision to place the unit under the Russian defence ministry was made after the July 2023 Russia-Africa summit, with the intention of expanding Russia’s military presence across Africa and the Middle East. Africa Corps has targeted countries with significant Wagner presence, including Burkina Faso, CAR, Libya, and Mali.
In the weeks before his plane crashed, Prigozhin was seen in Mali and CAR. On the day of his death, ‘VChK-OGPU’ posted a message suggesting that Prigozhin’s visits were to counteract plans to replace the Wagner Group on the continent with a Kremlin-funded army corps of more than 20,000 people. The post placed GRU intelligence officer Andrei Averyanov at the centre of the efforts to replace Wagner in Africa. Furthermore, Le Monde reported that he was suspected of playing a role in the plane crash that killed Prigozhin. Averyanov was part of Russian deputy defence minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov’s delegation that visited various African countries between August and October 2023. He also attended the 2023 Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg.
On 22 August 2023, the day before Prigozhin’s death, Yevkurov began his round of visits to African leaders by meeting Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar. Between 31 August and 02 September 2023, Yevkurov led a defence delegation to Burkina Faso, CAR, and Mali.
Less than six months later, the Africa Corps Telegram channel was in full swing, posting about the group’s alleged role on the continent and playing on anti-colonial rhetoric similar to that wielded by Wagner.
‘The Africa Corps is called upon to provide assistance to countries that need assistance in the fight against illegal armed groups and parasitic colonialists,’ a 09 January 2024 post stated, adding that the Corps would ‘give the countries of Africa freedom and independence’.
By January 2024 Africa Corps troops were landing in Burkina Faso, marking its first mass entry into an African country since its establishment. On 24 January 2024, the African Initiative posted on its Telegram channel that about 100 Russian military specialists had arrived in the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, with military equipment and weapons. The African Initiative, run by Russian Artyom Kureev, is a media outlet focused on ‘building bridges’ between Russia and Africa.
The post indicated that 300 Russian personnel would be stationed in Burkina Faso and an additional 200 personnel would arrive later. The images accompanying the posts depicted Russian personnel boarding the plane at their departure point and disembarking in Ouagadougou. Another post shared several images showing the personnel arriving in Ouagadougou. The tail number of the aircraft that ferried these personnel and equipment to Ouagadougou seems to have been intentionally blurred, making tracking the aircraft difficult. The first post was forwarded to 87 public Telegram groups and channels, receiving ∼1.5 million views and 537 interactions. The second post was forwarded to only one public Telegram channel, receiving 13,100 views and 431 interactions.
Between 24 and 25 January 2024, two networks of Facebook accounts, comprising 86 accounts, were involved in the coordinated amplification of the arrival of Russian military troops in Burkina Faso.
The first network consisted of 54 pages that used the copy-paste technique to amplify a statement by Burkina Faso’s Information Agency (AIB) about the arrival of the Russian troops. The AIB statement claimed the arrival was evidence of stronger cooperation between Burkina Faso and Russia. On Facebook, the AIB statement originally received 110 interactions. The copy-pasted posts, however, received 14,168 interactions on Facebook.
The second network involved 34 Facebook pages, also using the copy-paste technique to amplify the arrival of Africa Corps personnel in Ouagadougou, allegedly to protect Burkinabe president Ibrahim Traoré and help the country in its anti-jihadist efforts. The posts cited an unnamed Telegram channel as their source, but most of the images included had either African Initiative or Africa Corps watermarks. The posts received 26,693 interactions.
Of the 34 pages involved in the coordinated amplification, 12 are run from Mali, six each from Burkina Faso and France, and four from Côte d’Ivoire. One account each is run from the Republic of the Congo, Senegal, and Togo. The location details for three of the pages were not available.
On 26 January 2024, African Initiative’s Telegram channel posted another Telegram story, detailing the arrival of a delegation of ‘high-ranking’ officials from various Russian ministries and departments in Ouagadougou. According to the post, these Russian officials were set to engage with their Burkinabe counterparts on issues such as military cooperation, humanitarian aid, education, economics, and health.
The post was forwarded to six public Telegram groups and channels, receiving 24,100 views and 294 interactions. The same content was also posted on African Initiative’s website. On the same day, the Africa Corps Telegram channel shared a video of the purported arrival of the Russian delegation in Ouagadougou. This video was forwarded to 22 public Telegram groups and channels, receiving ∼21,700 views and 417 interactions.
2. Former Wagner personnel recruited into Africa Corps
The growth in Wagner’s influence on the continent is a result of its operational success. The easiest way to replicate Wagner’s operating model on the continent was to recruit its fighters, who would bring their unique experience of operating in difficult terrain.
About a month after the first claims of the creation of Africa Corps, on 13 November 2023 ‘VChK-OGPU’ posted a message claiming that Africa Corps had already been recruiting fighters from the former Wagner military base in Molkino, near Krasnodar, Russia, since September 2023. This post was reshared across 16 public Telegram channels, receiving more than 394,200 views.
According to the post, when Yevkurov visited the Molkino base, he suggested that Africa Corps was recruiting fighters with previous experience in Africa who would carry out operations in Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, and Syria and work in conditions similar to Wagner fighters. The post, however, claimed that recruitment hit a snag when Mirzayants allegedly took the promised salaries and titles off the table and insisted that no new unit would be formed; instead, all the troops recruited would be sent to Burkina Faso ‘to defeat terrorists and bring democracy and tranquillity to the republic’.
Africa Corps has former Wagner high-ups at its helm and openly encourages former Wagner operatives to apply. Konstantin Pikalov, who formerly oversaw Wagner’s operations in Africa, was reportedly a key figure in the Africa Corps’ establishment. Just hours after Prigozhin’s death, a Telegram channel called ‘Important Stories’ posted a message suggesting that a Russian private military company called Convoy, which Pikalov runs, was recruiting for operations in Africa. According to the post, Pikalov stated that Convoy would operate in eight African countries.
Another post by the Africa Corps Telegram channel, on 21 December 2023, indicated that about half of the organisation’s current personnel used to be Wagner members and that some of its commanders were former Wagner commanders. The post also stated that former Wagner operatives would have ‘advantages and priority’ during the selection process and would not be prohibited from wearing Wagner chevrons or other symbols.
3. Africa Corps’ involvement in economic activities
Wagner’s modus operandi in Africa encompassed various business activities on the continent, from mining to timber harvesting mining in countries such as CAR and Sudan. Libya houses Wagner’s logistics base, serving as the fulcrum around which Wagner’s distribution network evolved due to the country’s proximity to the Sahel and the Middle East.
According to a post by the Telegram channel ‘Two Majors’ on 20 November 2023, Africa Corps would engage in similar economic activities. The post stated that the Africa Corps, which had been formed following Yevkurov’s meetings with Haftar in August 2023, would conduct full-scale military operations, allowing the Russian military to counter Western influence on the continent, because Russia would have ‘free lease of bases, airfields, and logistics centres for its troops’. The post added that Russia would also obtain economic benefits through ‘control of deposits of gold, platinum, cobalt, uranium, diamonds, oil, (and) rare earth elements and their development on mutually beneficial terms with African partners’.
Advertisement and recruitment
In early November 2023, the first Africa Corps recruitment advertisement began to circulate. A website called Krasnodar News posted a recruitment advertisement on 04 November 2023, citing the Telegram channel ‘Поддубный |Z|О|V| edition’ as the source of information. However, the investigation could not find any reference to the recruitment advertisement in the Telegram channel, which indicates it was probably deleted later.
The advertisement did not mention Africa Corps specifically. Instead, it claimed that ‘a unit of the Russian Army to perform tasks outside the Russian Federation (Middle East and African continent)’ had begun recruiting in Molkino, Krasnodar, Russia.
The post stated recruits could enter into two contracts: a 12-month volunteer contract or a three-year contract signed with the Russian ministry of defence. It listed all the information necessary to sign up, and the salary and benefits recruits would receive.
The Krasnodar website advertisement listed three numbers for potential recruits to contact using Telegram or WhatsApp. Two allegedly belonged to call centres, whereas the third belonged to squad management and could be contacted only between 10 am and 6 pm Moscow time. All three numbers included Russia’s local country code, +7.
The first call centre number, +7 (985) 645 40 04, was included in the Instagram bio of a Russian wedding dress and couture designer, who has more than 16,600 followers. According to TrueCaller, no name was associated with that number. The second call centre number, +7 (918) 118 61 60, was associated with the name ‘Africa Corps Selection Point’, according to TrueCaller. The squad management number, +7 (918) 412 10 84, was not associated with any name on TrueCaller.
On 20 November, the Telegram channel ‘Two Majors’ shared a poster calling for interested people to apply to join the Africa Corps. The poster listed benefits, including life and health insurance, to be paid from the Russian government budget. The contact number on the poster, +8 (495) 150 11 63, did not have a name associated with it on Truecaller.
However, international calls to Russia use the dialling code ‘8’, indicating the post may have been aimed at an international audience. The area code ‘(495)’ is associated with Moscow. The post was shared across 30 public Telegram channels and seven public Telegram groups, receiving more than 153,500 views and more than 2,300 interactions.
On the same day, the Telegram channel ‘BattleSailor13’ shared another Africa Corps recruitment poster, which included the same international, Moscow-based numbers as the post from ‘Two Majors’, as well as the ‘Africa Corps Selection Point’ number. The number was originally included as a call centre number in the Krasnodar News advertisement.
According to the posts, the ‘Africa Corps Selection Point’ number was available for contact on WhatsApp and Telegram. On WhatsApp, the contact is registered as a business account and labelled itself as a non-profit organisation. The contact’s status included information about the Africa Corps, stating that it was based in Molkino and would provide recruits with three meals a day, veteran status, paid leave, and more.
The WhatsApp profile picture of the ‘Africa Corps Selection Point’ number contained two other numbers: +7 (918) 118 53 03 and +7 (928) 442 07 01. These numbers were identified as ‘Africa Corps’ and ‘Afrkor Krasnodar’ on Truecaller, respectively.
The Africa Corps Telegram channel posted an expanded version of the WhatsApp profile picture on 20 November 2023. It showed a soldier in full desert fatigues and provided the same contact information. The post claimed the Africa Corps sought ‘specialists from various professions’, including the military, and promised a high salary, medical care, social benefits, and payments in foreign currency abroad. The post was viewed 1.9 million times.
Wagner had already made similar promises during its recruitment calls. The private military company promised medical care, benefits, and more. According to a Wagner recruitment advertisement posted in the Wagner employment channel on 27 May 2023, successful recruits would be paid a salary of 240,000 roubles (about $2,600 at current exchange rates), plus performance bonuses. They would also receive health and life insurance and modern working equipment. The post received ~1.6 million views and 484 interactions.
Between 20 and 26 November 2023, at least 30 Telegram channels shared news about the establishment of the Africa Corps and its recruitment advertisements. These included the ‘African Initiative’, ‘African News’, ‘Africanists’, ‘Africa Behind the Glass’, ‘Mzungugram’ and ‘Smile and Wave’. African Initiative also published news about the Africa Corps on its web portal, as did Moscow Times, a media outlet the Russian government has designated as a foreign agent.
On 08 February 2024, another recruitment poster advertising the benefits of joining the Africa Corps and reiterating the numbers to contact was widely viewed. The post announced that recruitment for the Russian ministry of defence’s Africa Corps was still in progress and urged military personnel and citizens with combat experience to apply. The post was viewed 2.2 million times and received 240 interactions. It was also forwarded to at least 20 public Telegram channels and groups.
On 11 February 2024, the Africa Corps Telegram channel posted a request for personnel with expertise in operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Requirements included being at least 40 years old, having a technical education, and expertise in piloting aircraft-type UAVs. The post directed interested applicants to send applications to a new Telegram number, +7 (977) 341 14 96. The number currently has no ID on Truecaller. The post was forwarded to at least 11 public Telegram channels and groups, receiving 210,500 views and 274 interactions.
This advertisement is similar to Wagner recruitment posts, such as the advertisement posted on the Wagner employment channel on 21 April 2023, which called for applications from people with expertise in manning UAVs. The post also stated that signalmen, system administrators, and radio and electronic warfare operators were required. It provided +7 (988) 322 43 37, +7 (918) 095 39 01,
+7 (985) 019 86 69 and +7 (966) 176 05 91 as the telephone numbers to be contacted by interested applicants. These phone numbers have repeatedly been shared in various Wagner recruitment advertisements. The post received ~2.1 million views and 549 interactions.
On 20 February 2024, the Africa Corps Telegram channel posted a new application for electronic warfare operators. The latest number provided, +7 (985) 895 62 36 did not have an ID on Truecaller. The post was forwarded to two other public Telegram groups and channels, receiving 38,600 views and 174 interactions.
Africa Corps’ social presence
A Telegram channel called ‘Corps’ was created on 25 October 2023. It posted one message on 26 October with recruitment information for ‘a unit (as part of the Russian defence ministry) to perform tasks outside the Russian Federation (Middle East and African continent)’. The post was viewed more than 6,100 times.
Similarly, on 22 November 2023, another Telegram channel named after the Corps was created with the description ‘adventures of Russians on the black continent’. Both channels have fewer than 1,000 subscribers, so Code for Africa and the DFRLab have chosen not to share the links to avoid amplifying them.
Almost a month later, on 19 December 2023, another Africa Corps channel was created. With nearly 30,000 subscribers, this channel purports to be the Corps’ official Telegram channel. It posts recruitment information and contact numbers and shares content from pro-Wagner and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels. In contrast, its content is mostly shared by Africa-focused Telegram channels, albeit in Russian. The African Initiative Telegram channel has reposted Africa Corps’ content the most, mentioning it 92 times, including reposts.
The Africa Corps account on Russian-owned social media platform VKontakte (VK) was created on 22 December 2023, three days after its Telegram account was created. The VK account, which had 1,479 followers at the time of this research, posts content similar to that of the Telegram channel. The VK account has the same profile picture as the Telegram channel and links to the Telegram channel in its bio, suggesting the same administrator may manage the accounts.
Aside from Telegram and VK, which are both Russian-owned social media platforms, Africa Corps also has a minimal presence on X and Facebook, with 29 and 16 followers, respectively. Africa Corps does not post in Russian on these platforms. Instead, it posts in French and English.
Russia’s Africa Corps, which echoes the name of Hitler’s expeditionary force in Africa, had already publicly touched down on the continent by January 2024. Emerging as a successor or offshoot to the Wagner Group, the Africa Corps signals a shift towards overt Kremlin-backed initiatives on the continent.
However, unlike Wagner, which operated under a blanket of plausible deniability until the Kremlin revealed its government funding, the Africa Corps has made it clear from the outset that it is a Russian defence ministry project. With Russian defence minister Yevkurov playing a central role in the Africa Corps’ establishment, there is no doubt that the unit has the overt backing of the Kremlin. With this approach, Moscow has shifted Russia’s foreign policy on the continent away from Wagner’s shadowy operations and is becoming less covert about its growing footprint in Africa.
From the outset, the Africa Corps appeared to be a restructured, rebranded, and potentially expanded version of Wagner. The initial Telegram posts about the Africa Corps suggested that recruits would enjoy similar conditions of service as Wagner troops. In addition, the Africa Corps was open to Wagner soldiers joining the unit, with the Africa Corps Telegram channel claiming that, as of 21 December 2023, about half of its troops were former Wagner soldiers, including commanders.
The Africa Corps’ recruitment efforts, economic interests, and social media presence mirror those of Wagner, indicating a seamless transition between the two entities. Former Wagner personnel are actively recruited into the Africa Corps, further consolidating its operational capabilities. Moreover, the Africa Corps’ engagement in economic activities aligns with Russia’s strategic interests in Africa, spanning from mineral extraction to military cooperation.
This report highlights the need for continued vigilance and scrutiny of Russian influence operations in Africa. As the Africa Corps expands its footprint, it has become increasingly urgent to monitor its activities closely and assess their implications for regional stability and geopolitical dynamics.
This report was co-written by CfA iLAB senior investigative data analyst Eliud Akwei and DFRLab research associate, sub-Saharan Africa Tessa Knight, with additional research provided by DFRLab research associate, security Valentin Châtelet. The report was edited and reviewed by CfA iLAB copy editors Karabo Kgoleng and Theresa Mallinson, CfA iLAB deputy insights manager Mitchelle Awuor, CfA iLAB insights manager Nicholas Ibekwe, CfA iLAB senior investigation manager Allan Cheboi, and CfA iLAB managing editor Athandiwe Saba..
