Since 2021, Russian Wagner mercenaries have detained, tortured, and forcibly disappeared hundreds of civilians in secret prisons across Mali, according to a joint investigation published on June 12 by Forbidden Stories, France 24, Le Monde, and IStories.
According to Andrii Yusov, the agency's spokesperson, the Kremlin's strategic aim is to shape a future generation of African elites that are politically and ideologically aligned with Moscow's interests.
The deliveries — which reportedly include armored vehicles, howitzers, and artillery — represent another sign of Russia's expanding military footprint in Africa.
The halls of academia have long been considered sanctuaries of critical thinking, intellectual discourse, and the pursuit of truth. Universities across the globe pride themselves on fostering environments where diverse perspectives can be examined, debated, and understood through the lens of scholarly rigor. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has
The Wagner mercenary group announced on June 6 that it was withdrawing its presence from Mali, ending its fight with rebel groups.
The end of the European Union’s tariff-free trade preferences for Ukrainian agricultural products is more than just a policy change, it’s a wake-up call. For years, the EU has served as the largest and most reliable market for Ukraine’s agricultural exports. But as Brussels rolls back preferential
Since launching in 2022, Alabuga Start has recruited around 350 women from over 40 countries to work in Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan and aims to bring 8,500 more this year, according to Bloomberg.
"We count on South Africa’s meaningful participation in the International Coalition for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. We will also certainly strengthen our cultural and educational ties," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on April 16 the closure of the State Department’s office responsible for countering foreign disinformation, citing concerns about free speech and the rights of American citizens.
"We appreciate Somalia's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.
Through the first half of March, the Truth Hounds team embarked on an advocacy trip to South Africa to discuss two major recent reports: one on the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the international law protection of the environment during armed conflict, and another on the torture at the
Russian diesel exports to African countries nearly halved in February, dropping from 1.27 million tons in January to 684,000 tons, according to a report by the Center for Price Indices (CPI) reviewed by RBC.
President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit South Africa on April 10 to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa and discuss efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on March 7.
The naval base — which has been under discussion since 2017 — would give Moscow access to the Red Sea, one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.
The late Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner mercenary force has been accused of plotting attacks against Western infrastructure in Africa, including U.S. oil company Chevron's pipelines, according to the leaked correspondence of Prigozhin's Concord Group obtained by Ukraine's Channel 24. Another accusation is that Wagner mercenaries have allegedly cooperated
According to the agency, Russian large landing ships Ivan Gren and Aleksandr Otrakovsky, as well as the dry cargo ship Sparta, are scheduled to arrive in the Syrian port on Jan. 5. Two more Russian vessels — the universal cargo vessel Sparta II and the tanker Ivan Skoblev — are expected to arrive on Jan. 8.
"Their statements during this visit about opposing colonialism, made on Ukrainian land illegally seized by Russia in the course of its neocolonial war of aggression against Ukraine, are completely absurd," the Foreign Ministry said.
The Kremlin confirmed on Dec. 11 that longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad had fled to Moscow after rebels took the capital city of Damascus in a lightning offensive that shocked the world. Assad’s exile in Russia comes as little surprise. The Kremlin had invested heavily in propping up the
The U.K. government on Nov. 7 announced its largest package of sanctions against Russia since May 2023, focusing on the Russian defense industry and mercenary groups.
The visit to Johannesburg and Pretoria will conclude Andrii Sybiha's tour across the Middle East and the African continent as he seeks to strengthen ties and drum up support for Ukraine's peace formula.
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have shot down a cargo plane in Darfur, with speculation that Russian nationals may have been on board.
The statement comes after an article by the French outlet Le Monde claimed that Tuareg fighters from the anti-government CSP movement are using Ukrainian drones against the military and Wagner mercenaries.
The surviving members of a group of 14 men from Ghana who were lured into the Russian military to fight against Ukraine have appealed for help from Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast, Ghanaian news outlet TV3 reported on Sept. 19.
In this exclusive interview, the Kyiv Independent interviews Somali and Sierra Leonean prisoners of war who fought for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Reuters identified 23 missing Wagner soldiers and two others who were captured by Tuareg fighters. Some of them took part in the occupation of the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast. Others served in Libya and Syria.
A Russian private military company with links to Russia's Defense Ministry is withdrawing from Burkina Faso due to Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Aug. 29.
Wagner mercenaries are operating only in Belarus and Africa, and are not fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine, the Wagner Group claimed in a statement on Telegram on Aug. 26.
Warsaw ordered 50,000 155-millimeter shells from the South African company Denel Munition, a subsidiary of the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, in which it holds a 51% stake.
Niger and Mali's decisions to cut diplomatic ties earlier in August "were not made by these countries alone," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told a Kyiv Independent journalist at a press briefing on Aug. 13.
The United Arab Emirates introduced a ban on ships bearing the flag of the African nation of Eswatini, signaling further restrictions on "shadow fleet" vessels carrying Russian oil, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 8.
The West African nation of Niger cut ties with Ukraine on Aug. 6, two days after neighboring Mali made a similar announcement.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba signed a memorandum on political consultations with his Zambian counterpart, Mulambo Haimbe, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on Aug. 6.
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