Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has resurfaced in a video allegedly shot in an unnamed country in Africa and posted to a social media account with links to his paramilitary group late Monday.
In a post that begins with the phrase “Daddy is in the building,” Grey Zone, a Telegram channel sympathetic to the warlord, said the 41-second video had been filmed in “one of the countries of Africa.”
Appearing against a sandy backdrop and claiming it is over 50 degrees celsius — “just the way we like it” — Prigozhin says the Wagner Group “is conducting reconnaissance and search activities. Making Russia even greater on every continent, and Africa even freer.”
It is the first time the warlord has appeared in a video address since his ill-fated attempted mutiny in June, when his troops marched to within 200 kilometers of Moscow before standing down. Last month, Prigozhin was photographed at a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, appearing on the sidelines of the event hosted by President Vladimir Putin just a few weeks after his “March of Justice,” which aimed to overthrow the Russian military leadership.
Wagner, which Putin admitted in the wake of the mutiny was entirely funded by the Kremlin, has expanded its reach across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East in recent years, acting as Moscow’s armed foreign policy apparatus. Prigozhin’s insurrection raised questions about the future of the group’s overseas operations, but the Kremlin hosed down the speculation, vowing just days after the mutiny that Wagner’s operations in Africa “will continue.”
Wagner is active in the Central African Republic, Mali and Burkina Faso, helping to prop up anti-Western governments in exchange for access to natural resources. And Niger’s military junta reportedly asked Wagner for assistance in maintaining its grip on power, after it deposed democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum last month.
Prigozhin’s appearance in his most recent video suggests an intention to signal that it’s business as usual for Wagner and its boss, at least when it comes to the group’s presence in Africa.
“Justice and happiness for the African people,” Prigozhin says as he cradles an assault rifle. “A nightmare for ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other gangsters. We hire real heroes and continue to fulfill the tasks that have been set.”
