The Africa Corps (), also called Russian Expeditionary Corps (REK), is a Russian

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

group controlled and managed by the

Russian government The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

, to support Russian political influence and Russia-aligned governments in Africa. The Corps largely took over the operations of the

Wagner Group The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...

PMC in Africa, by subsuming and rebranding its structures.

History

The Expeditionary Corps was established by the

Russian Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Commander-in-Chief of the forces and directs the activity of the ministry. The Minister of Defence exerci ...

, soon after the death and possible decapitation of Wagner's leadership by Russian authorities in 2023, when a plane with its leader,

Yevgeny Prigozhin Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a ...

, crashed. In the following, the MoD made way for a fully government-controlled PMC scene in Russia, after the prior

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the Russian MoD and Wagner. The formation cooperates with other government-controlled structures, like the 1st Expeditionary Volunteer Assault Corps' (Redut) " Bears Brigade" in Africa. Konstantin Mirzayants, a purported leader of Redut, is reportedly closely involved in the MoD's operations in Africa and the creation of the Africa Corps. The Africa Corps was also deployed to fight for Russia in the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, in the 2024 Kharkiv offensive. On 3 December 2024, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (HUR) claimed that Russia plans to deploy the Africa Corps to help Syrian government forces against offensives by Syrian rebels, which captured

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and many other important cities and settlements, threatening Russian influence in Syria. However, the Russian government refrained from bolstering Assad, leading to the fall of his regime - instead prioritising to concentrate forces in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Organisation

The Corps' creation is part of a broader Russian strategy to increase its influence in Africa, where it competes with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as part of a broader geopolitical rivalry. The Africa Corps operates through a mix of mercenaries and volunteers, and estimates of its size vary. The Africa Corps has a smaller and more integrated role compared to Wagner, focusing on providing military support, training, and

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

cooperation with local Russia-aligned governments in countries like Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and the Central African Republic. The Russian government aims to use this entity to project influence, filling the security vacuum left by the withdrawal of Western powers, especially France, from the

Sahel region Sahel (, "Sahel") is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001. The region's capital is Dori. Four provinces make up the region— Oudalan, Séno, Soum, and Yagha. This region is the northernmost part of ...

. Russia also seeks to gain control over strategic resources like

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

, particularly in Niger, as well as leverage migration routes for geopolitical purposes.

Sanctions

In November 2024, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

sanctioned the Africa Corps along the Espanola Battalion and Bears Brigade. According to foreign secretary

David Lammy David Lindon Lammy FRSA (born 19 July 1972) is a British politician who has served as Foreign Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham since 2000. Lammy previously held vario ...

, the goal is to counter illegal Russian activities, hinder the destabilisation of African countries and to interrupt supply for the Russian war effort in Ukraine.

Activities

Main areas

* Africa:

Alliance of Sahel States The Alliance of Sahel States (, AES) is a confederation formed between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. It originated as a mutual defense pact created on 16 September 2023 following the 2023 Nigerien crisis, in which the West African political bl ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

;

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

* Europe:

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

By country

Mali

In December 2024, the Russian Ministry of Defence deployed 1000 soldiers from the Africa Corps to Mali, while 1500 from the Wagner Group commanded by Ruslan Zlobin were still there. The Wagnerians were deployed mainly in the north of the country, while the Africa Corps was concentrated in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

and the centre. On 6 June 2025, the government-controlled Wagner Group announced leaving Mali, with the Africa Corps continuing Russian operations to back the Malian military junta. The Africa Corps then became the only Russian force present in the country. Several Wagner leaders, however, moved over to the Africa Corps with some of their men, including Andrei Ivanov, known as 'Kep', Ruslan Zaprudsky, known as "Rusich" and Alexander Kuznetsov, known as 'Ratibor'. According to US officials, around 2000 soldiers of both paramilitary groups were located in Mali.

Burkina Faso

On 24 January 2024, military personnel of Russia's Africa Corps, which were intended to replace Wagner, arrived in Burkina Faso to provide security, including for Traoré. It was reportedly planned that the 100 personnel would be expanded to 300. It was revealed that a military base for the Africa Corps was established in Loumbila, north-east of Burkina Faso's capital

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

References

{{Russian invasion of Ukraine Africa–Russia relations Military installations of Russia in other countries Military units and formations of Russia in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Paramilitary organizations based in Africa Paramilitary organizations based in Russia Pro-Russian militant groups Russian mercenaries