Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has posted a video of himself and his men, apparently in Africa, as tensions between Western-backed African governments a new military government in Niger are heating up.
“We are working, the temperature is 50 degrees – everything we love,” said the 62-year-old, whose future had seemed in doubt after his mercenaries attempted to march on Moscow following the Battle of Bakhmut in Ukraine, resulting in their being banished to Belarus.
“The Wagner Group conducts reconnaissance and search activities, makes Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free. Justice and happiness for the African people,” he continued, claiming that his forces are “making life a nightmare for ISIS, al-Qaeda, and other bandits.”
Prigozhin’s reemergence comes after the Western-backed government in Niger, which hosts American and French military bases, was toppled by a military coup.
Western-backed governments in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali toppled by similar coups are now aligned with Russia, with the latter hosting Wagner forces, and supporters of the Niger junta are regularly seen carrying Russian flags.
In early August, it was reported that Niger’s military regime had appealed to Wagner for assistance, with the Nigeria-led, West-aligned ECOWAS having threatened to invade the country to restore its ousted president.
The Joe Biden regime has refused to rule out supporting military intervention in Niger.
