Russia had nothing to do with Wagner’s activities in Africa

A day after officially acknowledging that it funded the group with more than $1 billion last year alone, the Kremlin made it clear that Russia had nothing to do with its activities. Wagner Group military in Africa.

The Kremlin’s statement came after the United States announced yesterday its intention to take “new measures” this week against the activities of Wagner, which carried out a short rebellion against the Russian army.

In this context, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “The United States will take additional measures against the Wagner Group, to hold it accountable for its destructive activities in Africa,” according to Agence France-Presse.

He also made it clear that the measures will be announced this week, stressing that the move is “related to developments in Africa and not to the violence that was recorded at the weekend in southern Russia.”

Thousands of fighters in Africa

In early May, the United Nations accused the Malian army and “foreign” fighters, referring to the Wagner elements, of executing at least 500 people in March 2022, during an operation against extremists in the town of Mora, central Mali.

The organization has deployed thousands of troops in Africa and the Middle East. It has built strong relationships with a number of African governments over the past decade through operations in countries including Mali, the Central African Republic and Libya.

For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian media on Monday that Wagner’s activity in the Central African Republic would continue.

The state funded Wagner

It is noteworthy that President Vladimir Putin revealed that Wagner was receiving its full funding from the state, and from May 2022 to May 2023 it received 86.262 billion rubles (more than a billion dollars).

Putin added, during a meeting with the Russian military today, that the group was respected in the country, achieved heroics and made sacrifices, and was fully funded by the state.