While the West has isolated Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine and Khartoum since the October military putsch, Russia and Sudan are constantly drawing closer. The proof ? On the eve of Vladimir Putin’s outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, a Sudanese delegation began eight days of high-level meetings in Russia on February 23. Under dictator Omar al-Bashir, Russia was the country’s only arms supplier, under a strict international embargo. Today, after a popular revolt in Sudan, the beginning of a democratic transition and a coup d’etat which stopped it in full flight, Moscow is coming back in force, with mercenaries, views on gold mines and a basic project naval. There was indeed a parenthesis: after Bashir’s fall in 2019 and the advent of shared power between civilians and the military, the United States removed Sudan from the list of countries supporting the “terrorism”. Khartoum then announced “meet again” the agreement negotiated by Bashir and Moscow in 2017 on a base for 300 men and nuclear-powered ships, on the Red Sea, strategic to cut the road to the American fleets.
On October 25, 2021, army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane ousted civilians from the government. And above all, its number two, Mohammed Hamdane Daglo dit Hemetti, figure of the Bashir regime and leader of the very feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FSR), affirmed his doctrine on his return from Moscow. “If a country wants a base on our coasts, that this base satisfies our interests and does not threaten our security, whether Russian or otherwise, we will cooperate”, he launched. To the press, he nevertheless assured that he had not spoken of the base with the Russians.
“The Russians want access to warm seas and the Red Sea is key to that ambition.”
Ahmed Hussein, researcherat AFP
An ambition which, for several years now, has gone through Daglo and the FSR which, like the army, play an important role in the gold mines, recalls the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR, link in English). Already under Bashir, “Agreements have been signed between companies linked to Evgueni Prigojine, including M Invest and its Sudanese section Meroe Gold”, explains the think-tank. In July 2020, the US Treasury announced sanctions against this same Prigojine, a Russian citizen who passes for the boss of Wagner’s mercenaries, accusing him “to exploit the natural resources of Sudan for personal enrichment”.
Five years earlier, another Russian company, Siberian, had signed with Khartoum for the extraction in six months of 46 tons of gold, which would trade today at more than 2.6 billion euros, before throw in the towel in 2018.
“Russian investments in Sudan, especially in gold, are very obscure, neither their scale nor their links with state actors are known.”
Khaled el-Tijani, economistat AFP
For ECFR, “Wagner employees began by deploying to mining exploration sites before moving on to political and military assistance in power”. Today, assures a member of the Sudanese security services to AFP, “Russian experts secure communications and analyze social networks for state-linked institutions” Sudanese.
“With our sanctions, we are simply offering Sudan on a platter to the Russians. The generals have survived in autarky under the embargo against Bashir, so our threats carry little weight.”
Western diplomatat AFP
The Russians see far beyond Sudan, as do the Rapid support forces. Formed in 2013 by Bashir, the FSR are made up of members of Arab tribes straddling Sudan, Chad, Niger and Mali. Some are fighting in Libya, others have done so in Yemen within the military coalition under Saudi command, including the United Arab Emirates. Their expansion allowed them to gain influence, armament and money. The FSRs are also familiar with the Central African Republic, which shares 300 kilometers of borders with Sudan and contains “the strongest Russian military presence” region, according to researcher Ahmed Hussein. It is from this country at war since 2013 that Moscow leads “his struggle for influence against France”which has just withdrawn its troops from Mali, denouncing in particular the “predatory purposes” Russian mercenaries. For Ahmed Hussein, it is in this context that General Daglo’s visit to Moscow should be read.
“General Daglo and his institution (the FSR) have organized themselves with Wagner, Russia’s arm in Sudan and Africa, as part of this struggle for influence with France in the Sahel.”
Ahmed Hussein, researcherat AFP
“Between Wagner’s opportunistic expansion and Moscow’s strategic interest in Africa, this company now forms a triangle of influence linking Sudan, the Central African Republic and Libya,” ensures the ECFR.