I’m glad to receive the Knight International Journalism Award. This award isn’t just for me—it’s for every journalist who risks their life to shine a light in dark places. It’s for the three Russian journalists killed in Central African Republic in 2018. It’s for you, my friends

Kenya says over 200 of its citizens are fighting for Russia in Moscow's war in Ukraine, and that recruiting agencies are still actively working to lure more Kenyans into the conflict. www.bbc.com/news/article...

I’m here to tell friends about atrocities committed by Russian paramilitaries deployed across Africa

Beautiful welcome to Washington Post HQ. Excited to meet some of the world’s most amazing journalists and happy to continue to uncover and document abuses committed by Russian paramilitaries in Africa.

More than 1,400 citizens from 36 African nations are reportedly fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials claim these African soldiers are fighting for Russia’s ‘meat assaults’ www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...

Russia organises flights from the Middle East to Moscow, giving migrants access to the Belarusian and then EU borders. www.euractiv.com/news/russia-...

Ukrainian and Moldovan authorities have identified 654 mercenaries who fought in Russian private military companies Wagner Group and Redut during a joint operation. The Wagner Group is responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths in Africa. english.nv.ua/amp/wagner-m...

For years, I've been exposing Russia's atrocities in Africa—from Wagner's blood-soaked mines in CAR to their wars in Mali. The truth hurts, and now Russian trolls are targeting me with insults & death threats. They want me silenced. I won't be. Africa's stories deserve to be told.

It was such a huge honor to have described crimes committed by Russian paramilitaries deployed in West & Central Africa at the Truth to Justice conference in Berlin.

Russian paramilitaries are committing massacres, raping women & worse across Africa. I’m risking everything to expose them. Please donate to my GoFundMe & help uncover the truth. Every contribution matters. www.gofundme.com/f/philip-oba...

Spoke about killings and abuses committed by Russian mercenaries in West and Central Africa at the migration congress in Mérida, Spain. Many were shocked.

A gang involved in a Russian mercenary group-ordered arson attack on a London warehouse providing aid to Ukraine have been jailed. news.sky.com/story/gang-i...

With sadness, I spoke about massacre, rape and human rights atrocities committed by Russian paramilitaries deployed in West and Central Africa at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. It was shocking to so many.

From Africa to Eastern Europe, I’ve listened to many people talk about the brutality of Russian fighters who’ve committed human rights abuses in these areas. It doesn’t matter where it happens, the stories are similar. We can’t be quiet. We betray our friends when we stay silent.

Fired up and ready to speak about atrocities committed by Russian paramilitaries in Africa

Russian spies 'are helping gangs smuggle illegal migrants into Europe' www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Russia and Belarus have manipulated illegal migration, using it as a hybrid weapon against Poland and Western nations.

New report reveals that weapons and military equipment intended for Mali’s armed forces were rerouted to the Russian Wagner Group between 2021 and 2025, a practice that undermines global arms control regimes and enabled serious human rights abuses. globalinitiative.net/analysis/pri...

For the last six years, I have uncovered human rights abuses by Russian mercenaries in West & Central Africa, despite facing personal danger, including being held hostage and tortured by Central African Republic soldiers on the orders of Russian fighters youtu.be/9pzD1XjZEXE?...

Last month, Russian paramilitaries reportedly slaughtered at least five Sudanese Arab herders near the village of Guila in the Central African Republic. corbeaunews-centrafrique.org/centrafrique...

Last weekend, Russian paramilitaries shot dead two farmers who were cultivating on their farmlands in the northwestern Central African village of Ngbafio. Too many civilians have been killed or raped on their farmlands in the Central African Republic. corbeaunews-centrafrique.org/centrafrique...

For months, the Russian army has secretly recruited hundreds, if not thousands, of jobless migrant workers in Qatar to fight on the frontline against Ukraine. Many of the recruits are Africans. josimarfootball.com/2025/09/25/t...

Russia has a long history of using migration as a weapon in its hybrid warfare against the West. From Africa to North America and to Eastern Europe, the Kremlin has deliberately pushed waves of migrants to Western nations in an attempt to create chaos.

Kenyan Family Worried After Kin Recruited by the Wagner Group Disappears in Russia citynews.co.ke/kenyan-famil...

Four years ago, a systematic effort by the Belarusian government created a crisis on the EU’s eastern border: the authorities in Minsk began bringing would-be migrants into Belarus, then transporting them to the frontier with Poland and the Baltic states. theins.ru/en/confessio...

Fired up and ready to speak about atrocities committed by Russian paramilitaries in Africa to journalists, activists and human rights campaigners from around the world, gathered in Mérida, Spain, for the International Congress on Migration and Development Journalism.

“Migrants are used as an instrument by the regime to put pressure on the European Union’s borders, and our neighbours are really suffering from this.” — Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Russian paramilitaries admit to committing war crimes in Mali. They broke into homes, burned camps and shot on sight from vehicles belonging to the Malian armed forces. These are the kind of atrocities I’ve spent years uncovering in Mali and in Central Africa www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/2...

Putin is escalating Russia’s hybrid war against Europe. Is Europe ready? www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrain...

The German city of Esslingen has decided to award me the Theodor Haecker Prize for “extraordinary courage & journalistic integrity” including work that “exposed the influence & impact of the Russian mercenary group Wagner and its brutal actions.” What a great honor www.esslingen.de/philip-obaji

The German city of Esslingen has decided to award me the Theodor Haecker Prize for “extraordinary courage & journalistic integrity” including work that “exposed the influence & impact of the Russian mercenary group Wagner and its brutal actions.” What a great honor www.esslingen.de/philip-obaji

I risk everything to expose Russian massacres & human rights abuses in Africa. My investigations give victims a voice. My work uncovers how Russia weaponizes illegal migration to Europe. Support my work by donating. Every donation fuels my mission for truth gofund.me/b9742eac5

Russia's role in trafficking, smuggling from Libya to EU amp.dw.com/en/russias-r...

Russian allies—Burkina Faso, Mali & Niger—have announced they will immediately withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), labelling it an "instrument of neo-colonialist repression". Don’t forget that Vladimir Putin is subject to an ICC arrest warrant www.bbc.com/news/article...

Russia is becoming more desperate in its war on Ukraine. Young Nigerian women are being recruited to build drones in a military-industrial compound 1,000km east of Moscow. The Nigerian education ministry’s website was hacked to promote this shady scheme. www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlin...

Russia is ramping up immigration enforcement to pressure migrants to join the frontline in Ukraine and increase deportations of people from various Asian countries. www.globaldetentionproject.org/russia-weapo...

Russia, Belarus, and Libya Orchestrate New Migration Crisis in EU militarnyi.com/en/news/russ...

Multiple credible sources confirm that foreign state actors, among them the Russian Federation and Belarus, have deliberately weaponised illegal migration as part of their hybrid warfare strategy, targeting EU Member States. www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/docume...

How Russia uses migrants as weapons www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

Ukrainian soldiers captured a Kenyan citizen serving in the Russian army in Kharkiv Oblast. The captured Kenyan national, who claimed to be an athlete back at home, said he traveled to Russia as a tourist and was deceived into joining the Russian army.

Russian paramilitaries kidnapped Central African soldiers Gouengue Élie (pictured) and Bakoyogo Célestin Lemane back in January. Six months after their abduction in capital, Bangui, the soldiers are still missing. corbeaunews-centrafrique.org/2-ex-milicie...

Russia is recruiting African migrants under false pretenses, offering them jobs in civilian industries before forcing them into military service or drone production. united24media.com/latest-news/...

I will be speaking on how Russia exploits Africa to destabilize Europe. Join live on Wednesday, September 10, at 6 p.m. GMT. www.youtube.com/live/qVN6zoO...

‘Russia is waging an unconventional war on Europe. Through its campaign of sabotage, vandalism, espionage and covert action, Russia’s aim has been to destabilise European governments, undermine public support for Ukraine by imposing social and economic costs on Europe’ www.iiss.org/research-pap...

This is how Russia recruits young African men & women to work in a drone factory in Alabuga, where they face pressure to join the war on Ukraine. Unfortunately, African governments offer little help and many returnees experience shame and trauma. www.zammagazine.com/investigatio...

As Russia’s influence in Libya grows, some in Europe suspect that it could attempt to increase migration flows as a way to destabilise EU countries — much as it has done at the border between its client state Belarus and Poland. www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article...

Two months from now, I will be showcasing, in South Africa, how Russia is spreading disinformation across West Africa, destabilising democratic processes and bolstering support for authoritarian regimes.

Russia allegedly jammed the GPS navigation of an aircraft carrying the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen while trying to land in Bulgaria on Sunday. The pilots were forced to land the plane using paper maps. www.cnn.com/2025/09/01/w...

This is how the Russian Wagner Group hired British citizens to carry out an attack in London.

Russian mercenaries operate in the shadows, exploiting Africa’s resources. They want us to look away, to cower, to forget. But I won’t forget the faces of the survivors I’ve met, the graves I’ve seen, or the courage it takes to stand up to those who believe they are untouchable.