Sudan denies reports on Russian Wagner presence in country

US, Britain, Norway say Wagner Group engaged in illicit activities in Sudan

Buhram Abdel-Men'em |22.03.2022


KHARTOUM, Sudan

The Sudanese government on Tuesday denied reports about the presence of Russian paramilitary Wagner Group in Sudan.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry termed accusations by the ambassadors of the US, Britain and Norway on the Wagner's activities in Sudan as "a blatant interference in Sudan's domestic affairs."

On March 21, the Troika for Sudan – the US, Britain and Norway – said the Wagner Group was engaged in illicit activities that undermine the rule of law in Sudan.

"In Sudan, the Wagner Group, a Private Military Company closely linked to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, spreads disinformation on social media and engages in illicit activities connected to gold-mining," the Troika said.

But the Sudanese ministry denied the claims, saying the three envoys are trying to drag Sudan into the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Russian private security companies such as Wagner, Patriot, Sewa Security Service and RSB are known to have a presence in Africa.

According to Bloomberg, the Wagner Group is engaged in military trainings and activities, as well as in protection of gold mines, in Angola, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Writing by Ahmed Asmar

Sudan's Foreign Ministry Denies Presence of Russian Wagner Group

By Reuters
March 22, 2022, 

General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Deputy Head of the Sudan Transitional Military Council, attends the signing ceremony of the agreement on peace and ceasefire in Juba, South Sudan October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Samir Bol/

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's foreign ministry on Tuesday denied the presence of Russian private military contractor Wagner Group in the country, in response to a statement by Western diplomats.

Representatives of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway wrote in a piece published in a Sudanese newspaper on Monday that the mercenary group with ties to Moscow "spreads disinformation on social media and engages in illicit activities connected to gold mining."

The Sudanese statement comes after one of Sudan's military leaders paid a high-profile visit to Russia on the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sudan's foreign ministry accused the diplomats of trying to interfere in Sudanese affairs and of dragging the country "arbitrarily" into the Ukraine conflict.

"They alleged that the Russian Wagner security company was present in Sudan and carrying out training, mining, and other illegal activities... which the government of Sudan denies completely," the statement said.

Wagner Group has been tied by U.S. authorities to Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who denies links to the company.

In 2020, the United States sanctioned M Invest and its subsidiary Meroe Gold which it said were controlled by Prigozhin and operating in Sudan.

A U.S. Treasury announcement at the time alleged that M Invest was a cover for Wagner forces in the country, helped develop plans to suppress protesters including through social media disinformation, and was awarded gold concessions

In December 2020 and May 2021, Facebook took down accounts it linked to the officially defunct Internet Research Agency, also linked by U.S. authorities to Prigozhin, that researchers say spread content supportive of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Dagalo, who helped lead an October coup that ended a civilian-military power-sharing arrangement, met high-level Russian officials in Moscow on a trip that began on the eve of the invasion of Ukraine.

The following week, he said that Sudan was open to an agreement on a naval base with Russia or any other country.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum and Nafisa Eltahir in Sudan, Editing by William Maclean)

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