Ukraine - Africa Relations
Since February 2022, neighboring Russia and Ukraine have been waging a fierce war that has led to the deaths of thousands, according to varying statistics from both sides. Wagner forces have been participating alongside Russian forces in the war since its beginning, but that participation diminished with the rebellion carried out by the group's leadership June 2023, which ended with their deportation to Belarus before the announcement of the killing of the group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a mysterious plane crash weeks later.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on 31 August 2023 that he expected the Russian private military group Wagner's operations in Africa to continue despite the killing of its head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash. After a meeting of European Union defense ministers in Toledo, Spain, Borrell told reporters, "I am sure that they will quickly find a replacement for the late Wagner leader. They will continue their activity in Africa because they (represent) Russia's armed wing."
He added that Moscow cannot send regular forces to the region, because that would be very scandalous, as he put it. He continued, "They (Wagner) will continue to serve Putin and what they are doing, which certainly does not contribute to (bringing) peace to the Sahel region or to defending rights and freedoms in the region."
Le Monde newspaper said that Ukrainian sources confirm the presence of members of the Ukrainian Special Forces and Military Intelligence currently and permanently in Sudan, pointing to the publication by the Kyiv Post newspaper of a video clip showing scenes of an attack in a city that the media said was Sudanese without specifying it by name.
The newspaper explained that the tape, which was filmed at night by a drone equipped with a thermal camera, shows soldiers equipped with night vision goggles firing rocket launchers at a building. It also shows scenes of an attack in a city that Ukrainian media said was Sudanese without specifying it by name, but Le Monde said it was. I was able to pinpoint the location as being in the city of Omdurman.
On 20 September 2023, the American news network CNN broadcast video clips from which it concluded that “Ukrainian intelligence services were likely behind a series of drone strikes near Khartoum,” and that they were “conducting a ground operation against the Rapid Support Forces. ” Supported by the Russian military company Wagner , which was not denied or confirmed by Kiev at the time. By analyzing the new video clip posted on social media, the independent investigative network “Bellingcat” determined the geographical location and said that the shooting took place in the Markhiyat Mountains, west of Omdurman.
The Ukrainian government did not officially acknowledge the deployment of a field force in Sudan, nor the conduct of operations targeting Wagner fighters in the country, but CNN reported last month that a series of drone strikes targeted what it described as Sudanese “rebels” supported by Wagner near the capital. Sudanese, was a “characteristic” of the special forces in Kiev, but Ukrainian officials refused to confirm or deny this information. However, the head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, General Kirilo Oleksiyovich Budanov, stressed that Ukraine “will destroy Russian war criminals anywhere in the world,” as he put it.
In September 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he held an unscheduled meeting with the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan , while he was traveling through Ireland’s Shannon Airport. “We discussed our common security challenges, specifically the activities of illegal armed groups funded by Russia,” he said in a post on social media, referring to Wagner.
Liberation newspaper said 10 March 2024 that Ukrainian soldiers returning from Sudan spoke to the Wall Street Journal about cooperation between Kiev and the Sudanese Military Council led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan , and provided it with details about the nature of the deal between the Sudanese authorities and the Ukrainian government. The newspaper pointed out that the Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that Ukraine urgently needs equipment and ammunition, while the Sudanese Military Council is seeking tactical support to reverse the trend of the war in which its rivals, the Rapid Support Forces, are gaining more ground at their expense.
According to the Wall Street Journal’s investigation, arms deliveries began before the outbreak of the Sudanese civil war, as Sudan possesses an old stock of military equipment and has a strong defense industry, and “according to Ukrainian and Sudanese military officials, Al-Burhan secretly supplied weapons to Kiev shortly after the war.” Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met the first man in the Sudanese regime, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, last September 2023 during a stop at Ireland's Shannon Airport, and he himself published a photo of their "unexpected meeting." A few weeks later, the Ukrainian press revealed video clips - most likely transmitted by a Ukrainian military source, according to the investigation - showing a series of suicide march attacks, carried out in August and September 2023 in the Sudanese capital, in addition to the participation of Ukrainian special forces in targeted operations against... Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum.
The investigation says that a first team of about 100 soldiers from Ukrainian military intelligence landed in Sudan last August. Ukrainian soldiers interviewed by the Wall Street Journal said that “both sides of the Sudanese conflict did not attack at night,” but that Ukrainians equipped with night vision goggles and drones entered. Khartoum, and surprised the Rapid Support Forces fighters, who were accustomed to sleeping in the open along the front line, with night raids.”
The Ukrainians did not come - according to the newspaper - to directly confront the Russian Wagner mercenaries , an ally of the Rapid Support Forces, and the “King” team, head of the Ukrainian soldiers’ unit, did not see any Wagner forces during two and a half months in Sudan, even though they were following the telephone signals back and forth between Khartoum and Khartoum. And St. Petersburg.
A second squad of Ukrainian soldiers took over in November 2023, led by a man named “Prada.” The Wall Street Journal reported that “his team captured one of Wagner’s fighters during a brawl in Omdurman, and killed two others.” Prada said, “It was not our goal.” "Never expel Wagner's soldiers, but rather disrupt Russian interests in Sudan." He claimed that the Wagner group "is fighting using the local population. They give them badges, pay them salaries and tell them now you are Wagner."
The American newspaper also reported that the Ukrainians trained Sudanese soldiers to use small drones called “FPV” that are piloted using a camera installed on board. According to the Ukrainian soldiers, Ukraine helped the Sudanese purchase Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones , capable of To carry out precise air strikes. The fighting that has been raging since April 15, 2023 in Sudan has led to the deaths of tens of thousands and the displacement of more than 8 million others.
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