Women no longer go out to work, fearing rape by Wagner mercenaries: how Russia is colonising Africa

When mercenaries from the Wagner Private Military Company, also known as the Wagner Group, first appeared in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2018, many local women stopped going out to work in the fields. The reason? They were afraid of being raped by Russian soldiers.

Hundreds of gold and diamond mine workers were massacred by Russian mercenaries between 2018 and the second half of 2022. By gaining unfettered access to these resources, the Wagner Group has taken control of the country's gemstones industry.

Meanwhile, Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin – a major proponent of Ruscism, a political ideology that promotes the supremacy of Russian culture, values and governance and justifies Russian dominance over other nations – is promoting a new "concept": pan-Africanism. Stressing the anti-colonial history that Russia and Africa supposedly share, Dugin urges Africans to embrace Russian influence on their soil.

In 2023, Russia launched African Initiative, a state-run news agency. Since 2024, Russian cultural centres and Orthodox churches have been officially established in West and Central Africa. Local schools are introducing Russian language and culture classes, along with "friendship classes".

Our guide in exploring Russia's presence on the African continent is Philip Obaji Jr, a Nigerian journalist investigating war crimes committed by the Wagner Group in CAR.

In 2025, Obaji received the Homo Homini award, a Czech human rights award, jointly with the Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity.

It is thanks to his accounts and reports that we have been able to build up a picture of how Russia is turning African countries into Russian colonies.

Let's say that the total earnings of Russian-linked companies in Africa amount to billions of dollars annually (in fact, the Russians siphon off resources in return for military assistance to local regimes).

These funds directly or indirectly end up in Russian coffers to finance the war against Ukraine. African men are being recruited into the Russian military under the influence of propaganda, and women to work in Russian defence facilities.

Ukrainska Pravda has investigated how Russian neocolonialism works in Africa.

Wagner mercenaries open fire indiscriminately

"We told them we were virgins and begged them not to touch us," recalls a girl named Koko (name changed) who spoke to Philip Obaji Jr.

Koko and her sister were attacked by Wagner Group mercenaries near Bouar in the Central African Republic. The girls had gone to work in their family's field when they were captured by two Russian mercenaries who took turns raping them.

Sadly, their case is not an isolated incident. Since the start of 2024, food prices in the city have surged by 50% as women are too afraid to go out and work in the fields, where they risk being raped by "white soldiers".

CAR has a population of approximately three million people. According to the World Bank, "about 75% of Central Africans, particularly women," are involved in agriculture.

A report by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) estimates that between 2018, when the Wagner Group fighters were deployed, and 2022, MSF's volunteers in CAR took care of 19,500 survivors of sexual violence, much of it committed by Wagner and affiliated local soldiers.

"In terms of rape, even elsewhere, you always find incidents of rape," adds Obaji. "In Bangui, the capital, there were women who complained about being raped by Russian paramilitaries in a maternity hospital. Some of them had just given birth and then they had to face these Russian paramilitaries who raped them even while they were still bleeding. Rape has been used as a weapon of war across the Central African Republic."

Russia sent Wagner fighters to CAR in 2018 at the behest of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra. "They were in that country on the invitation of President Touadéra, who wanted help. First, to get the UN Security Council to lift the arms embargo imposed on the country. And then secondly, to help fight against rebels who were almost on the verge of overriding the capital, Bangui," Obaji explains.

The UN Security Council lifted the arms embargo on the Central African Republic in 2018, thanks to Russian lobbying. A few months later, the country received weapons from Russia and the first Wagner fighters arrived.

In exchange for military assistance, the CAR president handed over control of gold and diamond mines to at least three companies linked to the Wagner Group: Diamville, Lobaye Invest Sarlu, and Midas Ressources.

Diamville and Lobaye Invest are subject to sanctions imposed by Ukraine, the EU, the US and Canada. Midas Ressources has been sanctioned by Ukraine, the US and Canada. The Guardian has reported that at least 1,000 Wagner fighters have been stationed in CAR since 2018.

After seizing control of the mines, Wagner mercenaries used force to bar local residents they suspected of having ties to the rebels from working. They bring in loyal workers from other parts of the country to replace them.

"Usually when the Russians go into a gold mine, they have helicopters flying in the air. And then they have ground troops moving into this area. And they begin to open fire indiscriminately," Obaji says. "The bullets could hit anybody, whether it's a miner or whether it's a non-miner. But they believe that everyone in that community either is armed, or are working for the rebels or the government.

So they show up in these communities where the mines are and then begin to open fire. Because many people in the community are miners or are families of miners, so you realise that the casualties, the people who have been killed, are miners, or many of them are miners, because in mining communities, you find virtually everyone involved in this. So, if you are the head of the family, you're probably a miner. And maybe if you have children who are in their early teens, those children are probably also helping in the gold mines."

The killing of civilian miners peaked in the first half of 2022, when hundreds of people were killed in a few months. It was during this period that Wagner Group forces took complete control of mining operations, using violence to expel the artisanal miners. Obaji says the minerals are flown from the mining regions to the capital and then transported via Syria to Russia or the Middle East.

The colonising church

The first Orthodox church of the Moscow Patriarchate in CAR was consecrated in 2022. Father Serguei Voyemawa, a local priest, became the head of the Russian church in the country. George Maximov, a Russian missionary priest who has been defrocked by the Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria for his schismatic activities in Africa, came to CAR to formally open the church.

According to Voyemawa, 700 people have been baptised in the church in its first three years after receiving religious instruction. The church community has adopted the Julian calendar and Russian Orthodox rules and traditions.

The church has also opened a school for orphans, funded by the Moscow Patriarchate, where Russian is among the subjects taught. The economic crisis in CAR has incentivised many of the students to attend, since the school provides food and clothing.

"Some people accuse us of being a 'colonising church'," Voyemawa said. "But we fight against this lie, explaining to our believers that we live in the true Orthodox faith. Russia is making a significant contribution to the country's security: today we live in peace, we can pray in peace, and children can go to school."

Voyemawa’s claims, however, are a distortion of reality, considering the number of people in the country who have fallen victim to the Russians.

The Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in CAR’s capital, Bangui, is part of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa, which is under the authority of Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. In just three years, Russia has opened 350 churches across the African continent. According to Russian propaganda, the exarchate was created in protest against Constantinople's decision to grant the Tomos to Ukraine. [The Tomos of Autocephaly, issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2019, granted the Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. This move angered Russia, diminishing its religious and political influence in Ukraine and escalating tensions between the Moscow Patriarchate and Constantinople – ed.] The exarchate’s main church is St Philip's Church in Moscow.

The exarchate was founded in December 2021. Prior to this, there were only four Moscow Patriarchate churches in Africa. Given the close ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and Moscow's secret services, this expansion signals a clear intention to establish a network of Russian influence across the continent.

In the three years since the exarchate was established, the Russians have "re-baptised" around 260 priests who had previously been either Catholic clergy or Orthodox clergy subordinate to the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

The Moscow churches spread propaganda narratives, particularly by setting up centres that promote Russian culture and language. One of the areas of their activity is the distribution of humanitarian aid, which helps attract new parishioners.

Former exarch of Africa Leonid Gorbachov, who has also been defrocked by Alexandria, has stated that the Russian Orthodox Church attempts to recruit priests from other denominations and offers them training in Moscow.

"The African continent has a population of 1.3 billion and 54 countries with official sovereign status," Gorbachov said in an interview with the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. "On the territory of these countries, there are numerous Christian and pseudo-Christian formations and sects, many of which started asking to join us after the Patriarchal Exarchate was established in Africa.

This is a lengthy process which requires more than just refresher courses. These are people who must be 're-forged' in the Orthodox sense."

Pan-Africanism, African Initiative and Russian House

Russia's presence on the African continent has been accompanied not only by the emergence of the Russian Orthodox Church, but also by Russian media influence.

For instance, the Wagner-affiliated company Lobaye Invest funds Lengo Sengo, a radio station in CAR. It was founded in November 2018, at the same time as the Wagner Group arrived in the country. The media outlet's objective is to whitewash the Russians’ image and cover up war crimes against civilians.

Although Russia began active operations in Africa in 2022, it held off on setting up a continent-wide propaganda media outlet for a year. But in 2023, African Initiative was launched. Incidentally, the outlet has virtually the same name as a pre-existing EU programme in Africa.

African Initiative publishes content in English, French, Arabic and Russian. Its aim is to provide information support to regimes affiliated with Russia, covering Russian humanitarian, educational and cultural engagement in Africa and spreading key Russian news.

The media outlet ADF (Africa Defense Forum) points out that Africa Initiative is affiliated with the Wagner Group, which since the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has continued to operate in Africa under the name Africa Corps and now reports directly to the Russian Ministry of Defence. Incidentally, this is another stolen name – this time taken from the British. The Royal African Corps of the United Kingdom operated on the African continent in the second half of the 19th century.

In addition to a website, African Initiative has a YouTube channel and five Telegram channels, one of which has about 60,000 subscribers. Its head office is in Moscow, with local offices in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Bamako (Mali). The outlet employs both Russian and local journalists.

Prior to Donald Trump's second presidency, the main editorial line of these media outlets was the use of Cold War narratives.

"You would be shocked by the level of Russian disinformation being spread in West and Central Africa," says Obaji. "Russia makes Africans believe that on the one hand, Ukraine is caught up in a war between the United States and Russia. And on the other hand, many Africans do not support Ukraine because they believe the US is using Ukraine to destroy Africa.

For example, Russian channels spread theories that the US, with the help of Ukraine, is relocating its defence companies to Africa."

It should be noted that we found no evidence confirming the relocation of defence companies from Ukraine to Africa.

In addition to propaganda activities, African Initiative organises many events in West and Central Africa. The outlet covers the work of the Russian Houses, centres for promoting Russian culture, which began opening in Africa in 2024.

African Initiative publicises educational initiatives funded by Russia, such as the "friendship lessons" held in schools in Burkina Faso, during which children are taught Russian language, culture and history. It also promotes education programmes for African students. The outlet also carries out humanitarian missions – again, to expand Russian influence.

In March 2025, African Initiative published a lengthy interview with the ideologue behind Ruscism, Alexander Dugin. In a dramatic change of direction, Dugin has become an advocate of pan-Africanism in addition to preaching neo-Eurasianism. He outlines a vision of a future "African Union" or "African Empire" that should take revenge on the "colonialist" Western world.

Dugin insists that the borders of African countries must disappear, as they were drawn unjustly, and that Africans should dwell in an idyll of ethnic and linguistic diversity. He urges people to throw off the colonial past imposed on them by Europeans and Americans, and to open themselves to alliance with Russia, which he believes is on a similar path in its struggle to find a place in the world.

Philip Obaji is clear, however, that it is Russia's activity in Africa that bears the hallmarks of colonialism.

"For instance, as part of its activities, the Russian House in CAR is introducing the teaching of the Russian language in primary schools. And they generally encourage people to speak Russian, to learn the Russian national anthem. You have to admit that this is a new colonialism."

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Until 2022, the Russians’ presence on African soil was military: they propped up local dictators in exchange for access to the resources located in their countries.

Experts estimate the annual turnover of Russian-linked companies at billions of dollars. These funds directly or indirectly end up in Russian coffers and help finance the war against Ukraine.

With the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia launched a soft-power campaign in African countries. Between 2022 and 2024, Russians began opening churches and cultural centres – Russian Houses – and established the African Initiative media outlet. African children are being taught the Russian national anthem in the original language in schools.

All these facts demonstrate that Russia's activities in Africa are colonial conquests. It is essential to understand that under the current conditions, a fall in oil prices or the abandonment of Russian gas will not cause Russia to default. Africa's resource potential is valued at billions of US dollars annually.

The three million people in West and Central Africa, living in conditions of economic instability and under the influence of propaganda, are likely to become even more actively involved in the war against Ukraine.

Sofiia Cheliak for Ukrainska Pravda

Translation: Artem Yakymyshyn, Anna Kybukevych

Editing: Teresa Pearce