Transcription
These documents show that Russia has a global plan to reshape the African territory, and especially at the Sahel level. A global plan by Russia in Africa. These 1400 pages of secret Russian documents provide proof and reveal the behind-the-scenes of propaganda operations conducted since 2021. A consortium of journalists investigated for several weeks these documents originating from former agents close to the ex-Wagner chief, Evgeny Prigozhin, now integrated into the Russian foreign intelligence service. It reveals the establishment of a vast system financed by millions of euros. We already knew that there were influence activities, particularly in the Central African Republic, and now we see that it is truly extended, going from Mali, Senegal to South Africa. From January to October 2024, Russia spent over 7.3 million dollars on these influence operations. These operations are conducted by an organization, the company, itself piloted by the Russian foreign intelligence services. At the helm, 90 communication experts. Their main objective is to weaken Western influence, particularly French and American. To achieve this, the company has several tools. The first, paying journalists. When I started working with the Russians, I automatically earned more than 200,000 CFA francs. 200,000, then even 500,000 later. This table lists the paid content disseminated in August 2024. More than 400 articles were paid to African journalists between 250 and sometimes over 1000 dollars. Journalists are asked to relay false information. Second tool, buying fake Facebook accounts to disseminate pro-Russian content. On this document, a Russian agent requests, for example, the creation of profiles in the names of Amina Tajgerma and Mariam Barca. Finally, beyond media and digital campaigns, Russian agents conduct direct operations with political representatives and opinion leaders. Among the many documents, we find, for example, this one titled Confederation of Independence. It details the objective of this organization. The Confederation of Independence will become a center for the further expansion of Russian influence. This document describes how Russia wants a confederation or an alliance that would go from Guinea to Somalia, with Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso at its core. So, in fact, it foreshadows the AES, the Alliance of Sahel States. The document dates from August 2023, just one month before the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States on September 16. This alliance brings together Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, three countries led by military leaders who came to power through coups d'état. Originally, the AES was a partnership of assistance and relief to face the terrorist threat. Russian influence agents are pushing for it to transform into a true confederation. In fact, they will play on the anti-French sentiment that already exists, on pan-Africanism, or on the fight against neo-colonialism. So it is truly a mix of manifestations, fake news, or in any case, distorted information. This report details the influence operations conducted since 2021. Implementing measures to make Western actors in the region toxic. A file was compiled to discredit the UN military contingent. Interviews were conducted with public opinion leaders. The main thesis is as follows: foreign military personnel are not effective in the fight against terrorism. And then the company also regularly incites the exit from the CFA franc. The Russian company has developed an action plan presented to the authorities of Mali to be able to exit the CFA franc and have a unified banking system. The main thesis of the campaign to disseminate is: the CFA franc hinders the development of a sovereign economy and a local industry. A unified customs mechanism and the abolition of the customs regime have been developed by the company's experts and transmitted to the Malian President Assimi Goïta. In a document from February 2024, the company claims authorship of Mali's new mining code, presented by the agent in power a year earlier. Russia's global plan foresees, from the first months of 2024, an expansion of the Confederation to other African countries, notably Chad and Guinea Conakry. There have been campaigns in Chad claiming that France had tested drugs on Chadians for years, causing consequences for their health, or a campaign stating that the United States had a plan to assassinate President Déby. On September 11, 2024, two young Senegalese, Guineans, and Chadians were invited to Bamako. The event is entirely financed by the company. These are already the foundations for an opening. On this document from February 2023, the company even envisages a coup d'état in Senegal to engage in a rapprochement with Russia. To contribute to obtaining support from competent Russian authorities in case of implementation of a military coup scenario. Other planned actions have failed, but it is difficult to estimate their number. The company's agents, sometimes called sociologists or polytechnologists, work under the orders of Sergey Vasilievich Maskevich. On the foreign intelligence service side, Dimitri Leonidovich Fadeev, a 74-year-old general, would now define the main strategic priorities, particularly for the African continent.