Russia is increasing its military presence in Western Africa, sending advanced weapons to sub-Saharan war areas where Kremlin-controlled armed forces are growing, despite the ongoing Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to The Associated Press’s investigation, Moscow is employing cargo ships to transport tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, and other valuable military equipment to West Africa while circumventing sanctions imposed by Western countries for its war against Ukraine.
The AP used radio signals and satellite pictures to follow a convoy of Russian cargo ships as they traveled from the Baltic Sea for almost a month. According to the European military, they were carrying radio jamming devices, howitzers, and other military hardware.
As the Russian Federation contends with the US, Europe, and China for more sway over the African continent, the weapon supplies might bolster the Kremlin’s emerging Africa Corps.
The two-year-old Africa Corps, which has ties to a secret division of the Russian armed forces, is in charge at a time when European and American troops are leaving the area because sub-Saharan nations are turning to Moscow for security guarantees.
For over ten years, Western African nations Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have been fighting against armed militants associated with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.
Initially, mercenary military groups that had no formal connection to the Kremlin joined the conflicts in Africa. However, Russia is now using its intelligence agencies and military power more directly. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russians “intend to expand cooperation with African countries,” and “this cooperation includes sensitive areas linked to defense and security.”
The Western nations have sanctioned hundreds of ships, including Russia’s Baltic Leader and Patria, in an effort to cut off supplies for Russia’s war with Ukraine. According to AP satellite photographs, the ships docked and unloaded in Conakry, Guinea, at the end of May.
In January, other ships delivered to the same port in Conakry. According to a video of the large convoy taken by a Malian blogger and European military sources, they transported tanks, armored vehicles, and other equipment that was subsequently trucked through to neighboring Mali.
Trucks transporting Russian-made armored vehicles, howitzers, and other equipment were also seen on the overland path to Mali following the most recent delivery in Conakry.
The delivery of new military equipment to the Malian army was confirmed by the country’s broadcaster, ORTM. Russian-made weapons, such as 152 mm artillery guns, smaller cannons, wheeled BTR-80 armored troop carriers equipped with radio-jamming devices, Spartak armored vehicles, and other armored carriers, some of which are armed with guns, are seen in images recorded by the Malian blogger.
According to the military officials who talked to AP, Russia, not the Malian armed forces, has designated the most powerful weapons, particularly the artillery and jammer technology, for its Africa Corps. Satellites have detected at least one Su-24 fighter-bomber at a Bamako air base in recent months, suggesting that Africa Corps has also been provided air support.
The French military has long backed efforts to combat insurgents in Mali, as well as nearby Burkina Faso and Niger. However, following coups in Burkina Faso in 2022, Niger in 2023, and Mali in 2020 and 2021, France withdrew its troops. Wagner PMC’s Russian mercenaries took over.
The Wagner Group was first deployed to Sudan in 2017 and then spread to other African nations, frequently in return for mining concessions. It gained a reputation for cruelty and was charged with violating human rights and war crimes in places like Mali, Libya, and the Central African Republic, and also Syria and Ukraine, by Western nations and U.N. experts.
However, Moscow strengthened its hold after Wagner forces, deployed in the war against Ukraine, rebelled in Russia in 2023, and their commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was reported killed two months later in a plane crash. Through the Africa Corps, the Kremlin gained more authority over Russian military operations in Africa, which were reorganized.
According to military officials and researchers, the influx of Russian weapons seems to be accelerating Africa Corps’ rise above Wagner and assisting it in gaining the support of mercenaries who have remained faithful to the organization. The Africa Corps is recruiting in Russia as well. In exchange for signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense, they can receive up to 2.1 million rubles ($26,500) and even property plots.
Russian mercenaries and the Malian military have suffered significant losses inflicted by armed groups in Mali. This month, dozens of troops were killed in an attack on a military facility by the al-Qaida-affiliated group JNIM. In July 2024, dozens of Wagner mercenaries were also killed by insurgents in northern Mali.
According to military officials, some of the newest equipment could have been sent over specifically to counter such attacks. The most recent convoy garnered notice because the ships were escorted by the Boykiy, a Russian Navy destroyer, as they sailed from Russia’s Kaliningrad area in the Baltic in April.
According to military sources, the Boykiy’s radar sensors locked onto a French Navy maritime surveillance plane that was patrolling against alleged Russian attempts to destroy underwater cables last October in what is considered a hostile act. The group of ships included another sanctioned Russian cargo vessel, the Siyanie Syevyera. It went on onward as Baltic Leader and Patria unloaded in Conakry, docking in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.
Military presence is backed by disinformation efforts. In Nov. 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of spreading disinformation in Africa. He stated that Moscow is pursuing a ‘predatory project’ to spread influence in African countries.
In December 2024, Google banned African Stream media over alleged links to Russia after US State Secretary Antony Blinken accused this media organization of links to Russia and to Russian propaganda platform RT.
In January 2025, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has stated that NATO needs to focus more on Africa and the Global South, as Russia could increase its presence in eastern Libya following the collapse of an allied regime in Syria. Meloni said that over the past two years she has raised the issue of Russia’s presence in Africa with her allies and called on NATO to strengthen its presence on the continent.
Read also: Africa – Russia: friendship for convenience – grain and military mercenaries
