Ukraine takes war to Africa in likely strike against Wagner-supported paramilitary group

Russia’s war appears to be spilling over into other countries after a new report revealed that Ukrainian special services were probably to blame for a series of drone attacks and ground operations in Sudan that targeted Wagner-backed paramilitary groups. 

CNN reported that it spoke with a Ukrainian military source who described the operation as one not undertaken by the Sudanese military. When the news agency asked their source about Ukraine’s role, they said Kyiv’s special services were likely responsible. 

The drone and ground operations targeted a Sudanese paramilitary organization, Rapid Support Forces. CNN noted that it was thought to be receiving assistance from Russia’s Wagner Group in its conflict against the Sudanese army for control of Sudan. 

The Wagner Group was previously involved in a high-profile coup against Vladimir Putin in June, led by the group's former leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. That coup failed, and Prigozhin died after his private plane crashed in Russia on August 23rd under suspicious circumstances. 

The fate of Prigozhin Wagner fighters has been in limbo ever since the group took up arms against Moscow. However, the paramilitary organization's activities in Africa have remained a core focus for its mercenaries both before and after Prigozhin's death. 

CNN could not independently confirm Ukraine had any involvement in the attacks against Rapid Support Forces, but the news agency was able to obtain video footage of operations, which it said “revealed the hallmarks of Ukrainian-style drone attacks.”

“Two commercially available drones widely used by Ukrainians were involved in at least eight of the strikes, with Ukrainian text seen on the drone controller,” the report read and added that experts said the drones' swooping tactics were “highly unusual in Sudan.”

If the news of Ukraine's involvement in attacks on Russian-backed groups in Sudan is true, then it would be a worrying sign that the war is escalating, a fact CNN noted when it wrote the attacks were “a dramatic and provocative expansion of Kyiv’s theater of war.”

The Telegraph noted in its reporting on the story that the Chief of the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, is “known to favor strikes that demonstrate Kyiv’s growing international reach, and show Russian targets are not safe anywhere.”

Ukraine has kept its activities against Moscow confined to attacks within territory Russia has occupied and has only just begun striking targets deep inside of Russia in response to the country’s continued aggression towards Ukraine. 

Officials in Kyiv have not taken responsibility for the attacks in Sudan, even after video footage was made public. Andrii Yusov is a spokesperson for the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, and he told CNN: “We can neither confirm nor deny this.”

The videos provided by CNN show alternative views between the pilot's viewpoint and the viewpoint of an observer drone watching the operations unfold. These operations took place around the city of Omdurman on the Nile River just across from Omdurman. 

One piece of evidence that could signal Ukraine's involvement in the operation is the presence of the Ukrainian wording “Зупинити” on the video, which means stops. CNN noted that the drone operators appear to be foreign from their reflections in the video. 

Unfortunately, the drone operator was wearing a balaclava, and he was not identifiable. CNN also noted it geolocated the ground operations seen in the video, but that could not be independently verified as the date, though local reports said it occurred September 8th.

In total, CNN revealed that fourteen drone strikes had taken place; six occurred on the Shambat bridge and targeted pickup trucks, while eight more attacks hit parked vehicles, buildings, and armed men in Omdurman’s western suburb of Ombada. 

“One of the videos showed at least three foreign fighters appearing to conduct a raid on a building. In a clip apparently recorded on a body camera, troops were wearing night goggles, and one of the soldiers appeared to be carrying a rocket launcher,” CNN wrote. 

Newsweek’s Brendan Cole wrote that if Ukraine was responsible for the attacks, then it shows “how the impact of Vladimir Putin's invasion is being felt further afield.” Africa has also been seriously affected by Putin’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Deal. 

In August, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told AFP Ukraine planned to liberate Africa from Russian control: "We are starting from scratch in Africa. This continent needs systematic and long-term work… It's not something that happens overnight."