After more than two years of silence, the renowned Russian mercenary organization Wagner has once again made headlines. This time, it no longer calls itself Wagner, but has long since changed its name to the African Legion, intervening in African affairs under the direct command of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

【African people welcome Russian soldiers】

The name Wagner became famous during the Ukraine war, especially during the battle for Bachmut. The leader of Wagner, Prigozhin, caused a big commotion by competing with the Minister of Defense Shoigu in front of Putin. He even publicly insulted Shoigu on social media multiple times. Because the conflict could not be resolved, Prigozhin was unable to resist and launched a coup in June 2023. On his way to Moscow, he was persuaded by the President of Belarus, Lukashenko. However, a few months later, Prigozhin and other senior members of Wagner died in a plane crash. Although many strongly suspected that this was a purge by Putin, no evidence has ever been found.

With the death of Prigozhin, reorganizing Wagner became an urgent task for the Russian government. After some adjustments, Wagner mercenaries operating within Russia and on the Ukrainian battlefield would no longer be commanded by various local military bosses, but would sign contracts directly with the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, the other strategic asset of Wagner, which is its sphere of influence in Africa, did not immediately reach a conclusion.

【Russian African Legion mercenaries】

In fact, Wagner had already begun establishing its own sphere of influence in Africa as early as 2015. Unlike China, Russia does not have the ability to offer opportunities for industrial transfer to Africa, nor does it have the capacity to help Africa develop infrastructure. Therefore, Russia adopted a different approach, directly sending mercenaries to some African countries to help the local governments, combat anti-government forces and terrorist organizations, and stabilize the social situation. African governments often lack the financial resources to pay for the mercenaries, so they can only offer resources for joint development, with both the government and the mercenaries sharing the profits. This sounds like a step forward compared to the mercenaries of the medieval period in Europe, who merely sold their lives, while Russian mercenaries also engage in business.

According to reports, Wagner's operations in Africa are diverse, covering mining, plantations, and even squeezing fruit juice and brewing beer, making good profits. These industries' revenues give Wagner sufficient funds to pay salaries, purchase equipment, conduct combat operations, and support the luxurious lifestyles of senior figures such as Prigozhin. Whether high-ranking Russian officials have benefited from this remains unspoken.

After Prigozhin was eliminated, the Russian government was unwilling to abandon the achievements of the mercenary companies in Africa. However, it could not allow Wagner to operate as before, otherwise it might cultivate a new generation of disobedient warlords. It should be noted that the situation during the Wagner coup was very dangerous. When the mercenaries drove tanks towards Moscow, there were not many garrison forces in the capital that could resist. If Prigozhin had suddenly launched a full-scale attack, the current Russian political landscape or even the world order might have taken another form.

【Russian mercenaries guarding the President of Central African Republic】

Therefore, according to the requirements of the Russian government, an African Legion under the direct command of the Ministry of Defense was established at the end of 2023, taking over all the personnel, organizations, and assets of Wagner. To prevent the phenomenon of having too much power again, the Russian government proposed that the African governments hiring the African Legion should change the settlement method, no longer using resource development sharing, but paying cash directly.

Initially, some African governments, including that of the Central African Republic, were not satisfied with these terms because they had built trust with Wagner over the years, and now the other party had suddenly changed the boss, would the business still continue? As for the arrangement of cash settlement, the African countries stated that they were also short of money and that resource settlement was the most reasonable way.

However, both sides seem to have found a coordinated solution, and the African Legion quickly started running smoothly. The reason is easy to understand. Including the Central African Republic, most African countries have weak military forces, especially lacking modern training and organizational capabilities. They still need mercenaries very much. In order to maintain its influence in Africa, Russia is also willing to make some concessions on fees and payment methods.

【African Legion recruiting soldiers openly in Russia】

More importantly, Russian mercenaries are just doing business and do not act like Western mercenaries, who appear to be working, but are actually controlled by Western intelligence agencies, making it difficult to predict when they will launch a coup to overthrow the government. Russia has no history of colonization in Africa. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union once provided free military and economic aid to many African countries, helping them expel Western colonizers and seek national independence. Therefore, from the perspective of African countries, Russian mercenaries are not tools of white colonialism. As long as the price is agreed upon, they can easily accept it.

The African Legion has also demonstrated its combat capability. Since its reorganization, four thousand troops have carried out numerous combat missions in Africa, with more than one battle resulting in over a hundred enemy deaths. There have been successes in the Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Moreover, these battles were basically infantry firefights, fully demonstrating the strong combat power of Wagner's grassroots level.

Will Western countries just watch the African Legion play its role? Traditionally, Africa was the sphere of influence of French colonialism, and the United States also has some involvement in Africa. But with the decline of its power, France's control over Africa is getting worse day by day. In June 2025, France announced its complete withdrawal from Niger, marking another milestone in the collapse of the colonialist puzzle. The US has repeatedly considered establishing an African Command, but has not yet been able to allocate resources to achieve this, so it has renamed the European Command into the European-African Command. Therefore, Western countries are not unwilling to stop the establishment and operation of the Russian African Legion, but rather they simply cannot spare the manpower.

【Mobile warfare Russian African Legion soldiers】

The success of the African Legion also provides important lessons to other countries. Economic construction and security assurance are often supposed to be carried out simultaneously. In the case of limited security capabilities in African countries, how can large-scale infrastructure such as roads, railways, and mines avoid the impact of social unrest and terrorism? Having a reliable military force locally may be a good solution.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538624482110456339/

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