Yevgeny Prigozhin calls for "Africa to be even more free”

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the uprising against the Russian regime has published his first video-speech (possibly recorded in Africa) since then, which can be seen on Telegram channels related to the Wagner group.

In the clip, which was made public on Monday, the ringleader claims to be in Africa and declares that “the temperature exceeds 50." He claims that Wagner is conducting reconnaissance and search operations and “making Russia even bigger on all continents and Africa even freer." In the images, the leader of the group can be seen next to more men armed with a combat truck. The group will “complete the tasks that were set”“ according to Prigozhin in the video, who also claims that ”Wagner is recruiting people."  

According to The Guardian, the exact location of the video is unknown as well as the date of recording. However, according to All Eyes on Wagner, last Saturday a plane landed in Bamako, the capital of Mali, where Prigozhin is believed to have traveled.

Russian social media accounts connected to the mercenary boss claimed that Prigozhin is looking for fighters to work in Africa and invites Russian investors to invest in the Central African Republic through the company Russian House, an organization linked to Prigozhin that runs a cultural center in Bamako.  

It is common knowledge that the Wagner Group has recently sent thousands of troops to at least five African nations to support autocratic governments there, often at great cost to the local population. In addition to other Sahelian and Central African nations, Wagner has been accused of participating in massacres in Mali. Wagner's future, however, has been up in the air since Prigozhin led his ill-fated uprising against the Russian defense system.

Prigozhin submitted to a deal brokered by Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, in which he agreed to end his uprising in exchange for amnesty for himself and his fighters, as well as permission to move to Belarus. As part of the Russian authorities' efforts to neutralize the threat posed by mercenaries, Wagner surrendered his weapons to the Russian army before moving to Belarus.  

Although Prigozhin was allegedly captured by a camera in Belarus in July and then in a photo in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia, the Wagner founder long benefited from Putin's strong patronage, even when he created a private army that fought for Russian interests abroad and participated in some of the bloodiest battles of the conflict in Ukraine.