Putin's African Disgrace

Yuri Fedorenko
13.05.2026, 17:21
1,096

Another zone of influence is slipping out of the Kremlin's hands.

During the full-scale war against Ukraine, the aggressor not only lost internal forces and resources, but also rapidly lost foreign policy weight in the world. Its dictatorial friends fled their own countries, were killed or imprisoned. The aggressor practically lost influence in the Middle East, the South Caucasus and Latin America. Almost his last "foreign policy asset" was poor African dictatorships. But today this treasure is slipping out of the Kremlin's hands.

One of Russia's strongholds in Africa is the military junta in Mali. Self-proclaimed "president" Assimi Goita seized power in a coup in 2020. The country has been in a state of civil war for years. In the north of Mali, the rebels formed the Azawad Liberation Front - an unrecognized state that emerged as the state of the Tuareg (one of the indigenous peoples of North Africa) back in 2012.

For a long time, Assimi Goiti managed to stay in power with the support of the Russian terrorist structure - PMC Wagner, which is now transformed into the so-called "African Corps" and subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

The presence of the Russian contingent in Mali has become an international humanitarian problem: the world media regularly reported on massacres, rapes and other crimes committed by the Wagner troops. People fled entire villages. As one refugee recounted, "It's a scorched earth policy. The soldiers don't talk to anyone. Everyone they see is shot. No questions, no warning. People don't even know why they are being killed."

But there is a limit to everything. On April 25, a large-scale Tuareg offensive began. The Russians lost ground and began to retreat. Since the beginning of May, the Russian "African Corps" has suffered significant losses in manpower and equipment and abandoned three major cities in Mali. The country's pro-Russian "defense minister" is assassinated. Assimi Goita himself is trying to save his life and, it seems, no longer counts on Moscow's help.

Russian "African Corps" is also present in other countries of the continent - in particular, in Burkina Faso, Niger and the Central African Republic. In all these states, the situation is unstable. The local dictators' reliance on Russians does not justify itself: they are unable to protect them, but they dramatically increase the number of murders, rapes and other serious crimes, which fuels protest moods among the population.

The fact that the Kremlin regime is losing ground in Africa will inevitably affect our theater of military operations.

First, the events in Mali are a defeat for Russian weapons and further proof of the general exhaustion of the under-imperialized.

Second, Russia is losing control over the country's natural resources.

Third, it will find it increasingly difficult to conduct recruitment campaigns on the continent.

Fourth, cooperation with African regimes provided the Kremlin with the votes it needed in the UN and other international structures. Now this "friendship" is gradually fading away.

It is likely that some of the African "leaders" continue to hope that in the event of an uprising, they will be able to take refuge in Moscow, as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad once did. But reality has its irony: it is possible that in a few years Putin himself will have to seek refuge somewhere in the equatorial forests.

Nedo-empire is approaching catastrophe. Everything is falling into the abyss: its foreign policy positions, its economy and, of course, its military potential. Unfortunately, this is not a one-step process, but a process stretched out over time. We still have a lot of work to do. That is why we hold the line and keep working. Glory to Ukraine!

Yury Fedorenko, Facebook.

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Putin's African Disgrace

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