16 April 2024, Tuesday, 11:31 652

Kremlin transferring ex-Wagner Group troopers from African Corps to Belgorod Oblast – ISW

Editor: Roman Vaniyan

Читати українською

Share:
Copied

The russian military command plans to redeploy some former members of the Wagner Group who served in the African Corps to the Belgorod Oblast.

This follows from a statement by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Military analysts note that on April 15, Lieutenant General of the main military intelligence directorate of russia, Andrey Averyanov, reported that the Kremlin did not meet the deadlines for the creation of the African Corps, which was controlled by the Ministry of Defense of russia.

In this regard, the russian authorities are preparing for the redeployment of unspecified parts of the African Corps from Africa to the Belgorod Oblast.

"Current efforts by the Wagner Group to recruit for its operations in Africa are actually intended to recruit for deployment in the Belgorod Oblast. Russian Africa Corps soldiers arrived in Niger on April 12. It is currently unknown whether the group will completely cease its operations in Africa, whether only some units of the African Corps will be redeployed to the area of the Ukrainian-Russian border," the report says.

It is noted that Averyanov previously participated in a russian delegation that met with officials in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali and is believed to have actively contributed to the russian government's efforts to assimilate the Wagner Group.

"Averyanov, in particular, is the commander of the GRU unit 29155. It is responsible for the assassination attempt on Sergei Skripal in Great Britain in 2018. A joint investigation by 60 Minutes, Der Spiegel, and The Insider recently found Averyanov involved in non-lethal attacks using directed energy or acoustic weapons against U.S. government personnel in the United States and abroad," the ISW report said.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the mercenaries of the russian private military company (PMC) Wagner are leaving Belarus en masse, where some of them were sent after the failed mutiny of the late owner of the Wagner company, Evgeny Prigozhin.

In March 2024, the Center of National Resistance reported that houses were being built in Belarus to house the mercenaries of the Wagner PMC.