> 'From Russia With Love': A Putin Ally Mines Gold and Plays Favorites
> in Sudan
> By Declan Walsh, June 5, 2022, NY Times
>
> AL-IBEDIYYA, Sudan - In a scorched, gold-rich area 200 miles north
> of the Sudanese capital, where fortunes spring from desert-hewn rock,
> a mysterious foreign operator dominates the business. Locals call it
> "The Russian Company" - a tightly guarded plant with shining towers,
> deep in the desert, that processes mounds of dusty ore into bars of
> semirefined gold. "The Russians pay the best," said Ammar al-Amir,
> a miner and community leader in al-Ibediyya, a hardscrabble mining
> town 10 miles from the plant. "Otherwise, we don't know much about
> them."
>
> In fact, Sudanese company and government records show, the gold mine
> is one outpost of the Wagner Group, an opaque network of Russian
> mercenaries, mining companies and political influence operations -

Wagner is a very mysterious character created through unverifiable
rumors and speculations in media, whereas some "Russian mercenaries"
indeed present in central Africa, and the locals know about them.

<https://youtu.be/txNx5kJJ4Y0?t=87>

| Pro-Russia Sentiment Grows in Burkina Faso .. "No, we don't want
| no more France, .. We are here because we want the defense of
| Russia .. In recent months, there has been growing anti-French
| sentiment and a pivot toward Russia. France hasn't done anything
| that gives us success." .. Conflict with armed groups linked to
| Islamic State and al-Qaida .. Earlier this month, the leader of
| neighboring Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita, welcomed mercenaries into
| the country from the Russian private security company Wagner ..
| <https://tinyurl.com/ycqc52sh>

> Wagner is a very mysterious character created through unverifiable
> rumors and speculations in media, whereas some "Russian mercenaries"
> indeed present in central Africa, and the locals know about them.
>
> <https://youtu.be/txNx5kJJ4Y0?t=87>
>
> | Pro-Russia Sentiment Grows in Burkina Faso .. "No, we don't want
> | no more France, .. We are here because we want the defense of
> | Russia .. In recent months, there has been growing anti-French
> | sentiment and a pivot toward Russia. France hasn't done anything
> | that gives us success." .. Conflict with armed groups linked to
> | Islamic State and al-Qaida .. Earlier this month, the leader of
> | neighboring Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita, welcomed mercenaries into
> | the country from the Russian private security company Wagner ..
> | <https://tinyurl.com/ycqc52sh>

Pro-Russia rally in CAR <https://youtu.be/0KNWPaN11kA>

The Atlanticist media exaggerates the narrative that the Russians
must be doing something "very sinister" there, but in fact it's just
a security support against militant extremist groups in the area.

>> Wagner is a very mysterious character created through unverifiable
>> rumors and speculations in media, whereas some "Russian mercenaries"
>> indeed present in central Africa, and the locals know about them.
>>
>> <https://youtu.be/txNx5kJJ4Y0?t=87>
>>
>> | Pro-Russia Sentiment Grows in Burkina Faso .. "No, we don't want
>> | no more France, .. We are here because we want the defense of
>> | Russia .. In recent months, there has been growing anti-French
>> | sentiment and a pivot toward Russia. France hasn't done anything
>> | that gives us success." .. Conflict with armed groups linked to
>> | Islamic State and al-Qaida .. Earlier this month, the leader of
>> | neighboring Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita, welcomed mercenaries into
>> | the country from the Russian private security company Wagner ..
>> | <https://tinyurl.com/ycqc52sh>
>
> Pro-Russia rally in CAR <https://youtu.be/0KNWPaN11kA>
>
> The Atlanticist media exaggerates the narrative that the Russians
> must be doing something "very sinister" there, but in fact it's just
> a security support against militant extremist groups in the area.

| Beneath a statue of Russian fighters .., civilians joined a military
| tribute in Bangui on Wednesday to thank Russians who 14 months ago
| helped prevent a takeover by armed rebels. The "Russian monument,"
| as the people| of the capital call it, stands in a square .. In a
| few months, with Russian backing, the CAR's ill-equipped and poorly-
| trained army drove back rebels who had occupied two-thirds of the
| CAR's territory .. <https://tinyurl.com/299gnqdu>

I just recently found out that they in CAR have established a monument
to the Wagner group. It was in Russian news, but not on the front pages.
Also, it was in late February, when the Ukraine had jammed other news.

So let it be in addition to this tread.

In fact, Africa has a huge potential.

For many African nations, the main obstacle for successful development
is internal instability. It's partly due to the colonial past. Europe
used to exploit the Africa's resources via "divide and rule" policy,
and, in present, various militant-extremist groups there may be covertly
linked with some Western interest.

Besides, the Atlanticism maintains an extensive network of "international
organizations" and channels of influence that can play "multi-move games"
in Africa, but the locals likely understand what it's really about. The
present situation in the continent is a result of the previous Western
"help". This is why Russian and Chinese activities are welcome in Africa,
although many regional political factions would like to maintain "multi-
vector" policies, in order not to put all their eggs in one basket.

The Western powers feel uneasy towards non-Western actors there. In the
case of Russia, their slanderous propaganda is employed in full force,
so one can read misc. terrifying stuff about this "Wagner group" in the
American and European mass media. On the other hand, most of the local
people in the areas where "Wagner" contributed, do not seem to think so.