Russian Intelligence Takes Over Wagner’s Africa Network After Prigozhin’s Death

Last Updated:February 21, 2026, 08:52 IST

Following Prigozhin's death, Russia's SVR took control of Wagner's African operations, sending teams to boost Moscow's influence across the continent.

Russia’s intelligence apparatus has moved to take control of the sprawling African operations once run by the Wagner Group, after the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to a new investigation.

The Wagner Group — notorious for its brutal tactics and widely condemned by rights organisations — was Russia’s most prominent mercenary outfit.

The group had a widespread presence in Africa, deploying fighters alongside the armies of countries including Libya and Mali, and also conducted vast disinformation and destabilisation campaigns.

After Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in 2023 following a brief mutiny against Moscow, Russia’s defence ministry moved to supplant the Wagner Group in Africa and streamline security operations under a new umbrella formation known as the Africa Corps.

But it is Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), that has taken charge of Wagner’s influence operations — efforts designed to advance Moscow’s political and economic interests, spread disinformation and sideline rivals in Africa and elsewhere, according to an investigation by a media consortium that includes Forbidden Stories and All Eyes On Wagner.

“The SVR has now taken over the most effective tool of the Wagner Group," the investigation said. The reporting, which also involved the Dossier Center, openDemocracy and iStories, found that nearly 100 consultants work for Wagner’s influence arm, known as Africa Politology or “The Company."

Between 2024 and 2025, teams were deployed to countries including Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ghana, Libya, Mali, Niger and Sudan. They were also active in Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Cameroon, Benin and Namibia, the investigation said.

The consortium said, “The SVR provides a layer of intelligence with information on specific topics, recruits sources, opens access and places key agents of influence in strategic roles."

The investigation began after internal documents from the network were anonymously sent to the editor-in-chief of the award-winning pan-African media outlet The Continent.

The files — more than 1,400 pages in Russian — contain strategic plans, staff profiles, operational reports, financial records and summaries of disinformation campaigns conducted between January and November 2024.

The investigation confirmed the authenticity of the 76 documents and their content.

“The documents show that these operations combine political influence, disinformation and close ties to security services, going far beyond the usual practices in the sector," it said.

According to the investigation, Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), sometimes finds itself competing with the Russian defence ministry — which oversees the GRU — and at other times has to work alongside it.

While the defence ministry assumed control of Wagner’s operations in countries such as Mali, it did not take charge of the Russian private military contractors in the Central African Republic.

“In the Central African Republic, the SVR is called upon to help the defence ministry avoid hindering the activities of Wagner," investigators said.

(With inputs from AFP)

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