Russian mercenary leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has confirmed reports that Russia is getting ready for war in Niger Republic, as well as other African countries following a series of coup d’etats in the continent.
The mercenary leader appeared on record saying that he is recruiting for his private Army, the Wagner Group military company.
The recruitment comes ahead of the proposed invasion of the Niger military junta that ousted the elected president, Mohammed Baoum, by ECOWAS stand-by force goaded on by western powers.
In a video released by Razgruzka_Vagnera telegram channel on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner, speaking at an unknown location, confirmed the development.
In the video, Prigozhin, the 62-year-old mercenary leader, says the Wagner Group is conducting reconnaissance and search activities.
He said: “We are making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free.
“We are hiring real strongmen and continuing to fulfill the tasks which were set and which we promised to handle.”
Prigozhin, in the video displayed by AP, was seen toting an assault rifle and wearing military fatigues with pickup trucks and other people dressed in fatigues in the background.
Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight in June with a dramatic, short-lived rebellion that posed the most serious threat to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian leader’s 23-year rule.
A video in July apparently showed Prigozhin in Belarus but he was photographed after that on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
The Wagner founder long benefited from Putin’s powerful patronage.
According to reports, he built a private army that fought for Russian interests abroad and participated in some of the deadliest battles of the war in Ukraine.
Russian social media channels linked to the mercenary leader said Prigozhin was recruiting fighters to work in Africa.
He was also inviting investors from Russia to put money in the Central African Republic through Russian House, a cultural center in the African nation’s capital.
The Central African Republic is one of the countries where Wagner’s soldiers for hire have been active and accused of committing human rights abuses.
In the video posted Monday, Prigozhin says Wagner is, “giving ISIS, al-Qaida and other gangsters hell” in temperatures of 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius).
The Kremlin has also reportedly used the Wagner Group since 2014 as a tool to expand Russia’s presence in the Middle East and Africa.
Prigozhin spent months criticizing Russia’s military performance in Ukraine before he called for an armed uprising on June 23 to oust the defense minister and headed from Ukraine toward Moscow with his mercenaries.
Putin immediately branded him a traitor and vowed harsh punishment, but the criminal case against the mercenary chief on rebellion charges was later dropped.
The Kremlin will later report that Putin had a three-hour meeting with Prigozhin and Wagner Group commanders days after the rebellion.
His current whereabouts are unknown. Read more.
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