An extensive @bellingcat.com report details the trajectory of Vladislav Romanov, a former Russian opposition figure who joined the neo-Nazi paramilitary group #Rusich, linked to #Wagner.

🧵1/4 Suspicious Russian flight & #Wagner presence in #Venezuela 🇷🇺✈️ On Oct 26, a Russian IL-76 cargo plane, same type used by Wagner, landed in Caracas after a complex route via Africa. It stayed ~45h before flying to Cuba, fueling claims of Russian-Venezuelan military cooperation.

🇲🇱#Mali : A fuel convoy from Côte d’Ivoire to Bamako escorted by... the Africa Corps or Wagner? Are the #Wagner flags really just residual traces?

🧵1/4 Young Syrians Trapped by "Russian Women": Online Hybrid Propaganda. On #Syrian social media, stories circulate of young Syrians/Iraqis lured by fake "Russian women" promising marriage & citizenship, only to be forced to fight in #Ukraine. Some reportedly died.

🧵1/3 The London Case : Wagner’s Shadow Over #Europe A UK court sentenced six men for an arson attack allegedly ordered by #Wagner against a London warehouse supplying aid to #Ukraine. Sentences range from 8–23 years. Proof that Wagner’s hybrid warfare now reaches deep into Europe.

🧵1/3 Birao, symbol of #Wagner impunity in #CAR. On Sept 16 2025, Wagner mercenaries killed 4-5 Sudanese herders near Birao, sparking reprisals and mass flight toward Ndélé & Amdafock. Government calm video hides the truth : Birao shows Wagner’s rule, extortion, looting, rape, murder.

🧵 1/3 Humanitarian worker Joseph Figueira Martin, arrested by #Wagner, remains detained in #Bangui. He faces a possible life sentence despite no credible evidence. An absurd and unimaginable injustice. The European Parliament demands his "immediate and unconditional release" by #CAR authorities.

🧵 1/4 After its June 13, 2025 defeat in Kidal, #Mali, the #AfricaCorps faces major setbacks. #Niger and #BurkinaFaso now seek renewed U.S. support as losses expose the Corps’ declining strength and vulnerability to rebel and JNIM tactics, its worst blow since Tinzaouaten in 2024.

🇰🇪 The case of Mikhail Lyapin in #Kenya highlights risks of fraudulent foreign ( #Russia ) job schemes and exploitation of African recruits.

🇨🇺❗️🇺🇦 Up to 5,000 Cubans are currently fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine. ⚔️ Zelensky also named China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and African states as additional sources of mercenaries fighting alongside Russia. Read more 👀⬇️ theukrainianreview.info/foreign-recr...

🧵1/6 From #Wagner to the #AfricaCorps, Russia’s GRU Unit 29155, infamous for poisonings and assassinations in Europe, is now steering Moscow’s shadow war in Africa. Led by sanctioned Gen. Andrey Averyanov, it fights a brutal, covert war without uniforms but with deadly consequences.

🧵1/5 #Tatarstan, the #Kremlin ’s gateway to #Africa. Recruitment centers in Kazan lure candidates with 500 000₽ bonuses, travel reimbursements, and constant ads. Officially a "unique experience" and "equal partnership," it exploits workers sent to serve #Moscow ’s ambitions.

🧵1/3 #Wagner is accused of crossing from #CAR to attack villages near Um Dafuq, #Sudan. Sources (Daily Sudan Post, Sudan Tribune, #RadioDabanga) report 5+ civilians killed, some mutilated. Armed men in 4x4s fired randomly, fueling chaos along an arms-smuggling frontier.

#Mali : On Aug 20, 2025, the FLA struck #AfricaCorps HQ in #Aguelhok with a drone. Reports say 6 dead, 7 seriously wounded, vehicles damaged. Pro - #Wagner channel "White Uncles in Africa" skips casualties, focusing only on drone tech.

🧵1/3 #Mali : JNIM launched coordinated attacks, seizing a FAMA base in Tiby, #Ségou. Soldiers reportedly fled, leaving militants in control. Burned PT-76 tanks and other vehicles were spotted. Questions raise about FAMA / #AfricaCorps relationship.

🧵1/6 Extortion, torture, massacres : #Wagner deepened Mali’s insecurity, with crises like 150k refugees in Mbera camp. Weeks later, #AfricaCorps repeated the same : brutality vs civilians, pay-for-service, battlefield defeats. #Mali’ s security keeps deteriorating.

🧵1/5 Viktor Vasiliev, founder of the African Initiative and #Wagner recruiter, is detained in Bishkek. #Kyrgyzstan accuses him of "complicity in recruiting mercenaries". Held 4 months, his arrest angers pro-Wagner supporters.

#Malian refugees in #Mauritania doubled since 2022, with Mbera camp’s new district nicknamed “Wagner” after those fleeing the group’s abuses. Plus Malian refugees testify repeated rapes by #Wagner mercenaries. And then Wagner spokesman Ivanov dares to talk about regional destabilization...

A noteworthy report from @thesentryorg.bsky.social highlighting the failure of #Mali’ s #Wagner experiment.

🧵1/3 Two years after #Prigozhin’ s death, #Russia 🇷🇺 is pursuing a quieter influence in #Africa. In Luanda, two Russians were arrested on August 7 for allegedly fueling protests with propaganda and covert funds. www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20...

🧵 1/3 #Algeria🇩🇿 - #Mali🇲🇱 : Russia’s balancing act grows risky Supporting Mali’s junta via #Wagner and the #AfricaCorps sidelines Algiers, a key regional mediator and major Russian military client. Moscow tries to keep ties with Algeria amid rising Bamako-Algiers tensions.

According to UK MoD, the Africa Corps has replaced #Wagner in #Mali with 2 000 troops & 100+ heavy weapons, part of Russia’s push to formalize security ties. Wagner is out in Syria, Libya, Mali, but still active in #CAR (2 000 fighters) & #Belarus (300). For how long? That remains unclear.

🧵 1/3 #CAR 🇨🇫 delays signing Russia ’s 🇷🇺 binding deal to replace #Wagner with #AfricaCorps. Officially, it’s about the $15M price tag (per government spokesperson Maxime Balalu). Unofficially, political and personal tensions are also at play. A signature remains pending.

🧵1/3 Zapad 2025 drills in #Belarus🇧🇾 to showcase advanced drone warfare. Behind the scenes, ex - #Wagner mercenaries are leading the effort. A UAV combat & jamming center near Vitebsk, run by these “experienced instructors,” hints their role goes far beyond just drones.

A new military pact raises the question : could the #AfricaCorps soon establish a presence in #Togo🇹🇬? With about 30 Russian advisors, MI-35/MI-17 helicopters, and joint drills, ties with Moscow grow. No PMC presence confirmed yet, but #Russia’s Mali/CAR model suggests it’s plausible.

🧵1/8 One year since the #Tinzaouaten ambush (July 25–27, 2024) and the 84 #Wagner mercenaries killed by CSP / #Azawad, incl. top names like Elizarov & Fedyanin : the grim toll of Wagner and the #AfricaCorps, neither invincible nor reliable.

#Algeria🇩🇿 pushes back against #AfricaCorps in #Mali🇲🇱, warning foreign troops near its border are a threat. Bamako accuses Algiers of backing Tuareg separatists. This rift could unravel #Russia’ s🇷🇺 Sahel strategy, strain arms deals & possibly invite rivals like Turkey.

#Russia may soon shift to year-round military conscription, under a new bill introduced in the State Duma. While deployments would still occur during spring and fall, enlistment offices would operate continuously, handling exams and paperwork...

🧵1/7 Moscow is tightening the screws on Bangui. #Russia now demands a binding agreement by end of August to deploy the #AfricaCorps in #CAR🇨🇫, replacing #Wagner. Cost? $15M/month—40% of CAR’s 2025 budget. For a nation in chronic crisis, it’s financial coercion dressed as security aid.

#Mali: Army, #Wagner Group Disappear, Execute #Fulani Civilians The AU should ramp up its engagement to help protect civilians from abuses by all warring parties, including by assisting in investigations of abuses and pressing for fair prosecutions, @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

Two ex - #Wagner mercenaries from Azerbaijan, Ramil Aliyev and Ismayil Hasanov, recruited via Prigozhin’s “Project-K”, are indicted in Baku for fighting in Ukraine. The move marks a legal and strategic shift : #Azerbaijan🇦🇿 now treats Wagner as a criminal group and signals a break with #Russia🇷🇺.

At least 11 killed at Wagner-run gold mine in #Ndassima, #CAR. Locals searching for gold were shot, some still missing. As Russia shifts from #Wagner to the #AfricaCorps, violence may spike—civilians increasingly caught in the struggle for control and profit.

#Russia🇷🇺 and Rwandan forces🇷🇼 are backing #CAR🇨🇫 President Touadéra’s expected third-term bid. #Wagner oversees combat zones and presidential security, deepening Moscow’s grip amid opposition protests and fears of eroding sovereignty. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

🧵1/5 The #AfricaCorps in #Sudan : an opportunistic and pernicious shift. Since late 2024, #Moscow — and #Wagner — has shifted from backing RSF to aligning with SAF, aiming to secure Port Sudan, control maritime routes, and establish a naval presence along Sudan’s strategic Red Sea coastline.

#Wagner Legion Istra, a state unit under the Russian MoD made up of former Wagner fighters, called for volunteers. This may signal efforts to resume abuses in #Ukraine and capitalize on Wagner’s brand to remobilize Russian recruits, as the #AfricaCorps struggles to establish itself in #Africa.

🧵1/4 Weaponizing Social Media : Wagner’s Digital Warfare and Atrocities in Africa Since arriving in #Africa, #Wagner and the #AfricaCorps have operated outside legal bounds, using Telegram to project military dominance, recruit fighters, and wage psychological warfare across the #Sahel with fear.

🧵1/5 Libya 🇱🇾 : A Russian Hub Undermined by the Africa Corps Setbacks. Since November 2023, #Russia replaced #Wagner with the #AfricaCorps in #Libya to secure regional interests and professionalize its presence. The redeployment aims to make Libya a hub but faces setbacks like poor air support.

🧵1/4 – #AfricaCorps in #Mali 🇲🇱 : Wagner’s toxic legacy. One year after #Wagner’s heavy defeat at Tinzaouatène, the Africa Corps suffered a setback. On June 13, an FLA ambush between Anefis and Aguelhoc led to dozens of fatalities—some identified as "white fighters". @julesduhamel.bsky.social

Russia's Wagner Group runs private Telegram channel where it advertises a daily routine of torture, executions, and corpse desecration, particularly in Mali, often with racist overtones www.jeuneafrique.com/1699621/poli...

Journalists have uncovered a network of secret prisons and torture sites in Mali operated by the Wagner private military company, according to an investigation 🔗Read more: militarnyi.com/en/news/wagn...

#Mali : Since 2021, #Wagner has abducted, tortured & secretly detained hundreds of civilians — often inside former UN bases. @forbidden-stories.bsky.social identified 6 secret prisons used between 2022–2024. Some victims were ransomed, others disappeared. Video ⬇️⬇️⬇️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkvI...

🧵 1/4 In #CAR, a Cold War between #Wagner and the #AfricaCorps? Starting in 2026, Bangui committed to paying $800,000 per week to #Russia for protection by the Africa Corps. But the deployment is currently stalled : Wagner refuses to cede ground. Touadéra is buying time.

🧵1/5 As #Wagner is leaving #Mali, the Russian militia is facing growing rejection in #CAR, seen now as predators. Since mid-2024, #Bangui’s media and local radio stations have been denouncing looting, abuses, and betrayals. In Zémio, Mboki, and Obo, Zande communities are forming resistance militias.

🧵 1/4 #Russia in Africa: Ambitions of a Giant with Feet of Clay. Since the 2010s, Russia has been trying to revive its economic ties with sub-Saharan #Africa, notably through arms sales and a handful of controversial mining investments — as the Great Dyke project in Zimbabwe, a complete fiasco.

🧵 1/7 #Wagner’ s legacy in #Mali: civilian abuses, junta tensions, and zero stability. Their 'mission accomplished' claim in Mali sounds like a convenient exit after heavy losses to #JNIM - we notably remember the 80 fighters who fell to Azawad forces.

Ukrainian POWs die in Russian prisons, autopsies point to a system of brutality War crimes. So many war crimes. apnews.com/article/russ...

⚡️ Russia ordered 307,900 death certificates for soldiers' families since 2022, media reports. Before the full-scale war against Ukraine, the number of certificates for deceased soldiers' relatives had consistently declined.

1/4 In #CAR, gold mines have become the #Wagner’s private preserve. At the #Ndassima site alone, estimates suggest more than 200 billion CFA francs per year in gold extraction—funds that don't benefit the local population.

🧵 1/5 PMC #Wagner is well known for committing abuses against civilians. This use of violence and torture against civilians is also present among the #RussianArmy. Whether it is the PMCs or the regular forces, Russia commits crimes with complete impunity.

🧵 1/6 #Wagner and the #AfricaCorps resting on ever more fragile foundations - Is the structure beginning to collapse under the weight of its long-dried abuses? As in Mali, people in #CAR are beginning to speak out about the numerous crimes committed by Russian mercenaries against civilians.