Media: Ukrainian forces operate against Wagner mercenaries in Sudan

The Kyiv Post obtained footage displaying Ukrainian special forces elements questioning apprehended mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) in Sudan, the media reported on 5 February.

byMichelle Bondar

06/02/2024

2 minute read

Wagner mercenary and two local recruits reportedly interviewed by Ukrainian special forces in Sudan. Photo: screenshot from Kyiv Post video

Media: Ukrainian forces operate against Wagner mercenaries in Sudan

The Kyiv Post’s video provided by unnamed Ukrainian intelligence sources initially shows troops examining damaged military vehicles with Wagner insignia. An operator then interrogates a Russian-speaking detainee who admits to being part of a 100-man detachment sent to overthrow Sudan’s government after transiting the Central African Republic.

The clip also features the interrogation of two purported local recruits. The activities demonstrate that the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) has been hunting Wagner mercenaries in Sudan as part of overseas operations against Russian war criminals promised by HUR chief Gen. Kyrylo Budanov.

“We’ve been killing Russians, and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine,” he told Yahoo News in May 2023.

Open-source evidence of Ukrainian special operators in Sudan has existed for months. But the video details one specific anti-Wagner effort, as the PMC supported Sudan’s 2019 coup and continues supplying weapons.

In September 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed he discussed common security threats from Russian-financed armed groups with Sudan’s leader. The revelation and video detail an ongoing Ukrainian campaign versus Russian mercenaries globally.

Zelenskyy discusses Russian paramilitaries with Sudanese leader

Wagner has carried out various commercial and military activities in Sudan for years. After supporting the nation’s 2019 coup, the mercenary organization run by now-deceased Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin has provided weapons and training to Sudanese security personnel. CNN investigations also revealed potential gold smuggling networks involving Russian mining firms operating in Sudan as fronts for Wagner.

Blood Gold: How Kremlin mercenaries loot Africa to wage war in Ukraine

The civil war in Sudan began on 15 April 2023, when the RSF launched a series of attacks on government sites. According to the UN, it has resulted in more than 13 thousand deaths and over 8 million displaced persons as of January 2024.

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