The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has escalated into a full-scale invasion by Moscow, has spilled over into Africa, where both sides are using drones to target each other’s interests.
According to a video obtained by the Kyiv Post newspaper, Ukrainian forces have been conducting a covert operation in Sudan, hunting down and eliminating Russian mercenaries and their local allies. The video, which was reportedly filmed in recent weeks, shows Ukrainian drones striking three different vehicles carrying Russian fighters in an undisclosed location in Sudan. A similar attack happened in Libya.
The Kyiv Post cited sources in the Ukrainian special services, who said that the operation was aimed at destroying Russian mercenaries and their local terrorist partners in Sudan. The sources claimed that the operation was likely the work of Ukrainian special forces.
Ukraine’s involvement in Sudan is not new. In September 2023, CNN reported that Ukrainian special services were behind a series of drone strikes and a ground operation near Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, which targeted Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia backed by the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary outfit.
CNN found that two types of drones widely used by Ukrainians were involved in at least eight of the strikes, and that the drone controller had Ukrainian text on it. The report also said that the tactics used by the drones, such as diving directly into the target, were uncommon in Sudan and the rest of Africa.
The drones used by Ukraine are believed to be equipped with rocket-propelled grenades, which can deliver a powerful payload that can destroy a vehicle. While drones have been used to drop bombs in other African countries, such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and Libya, the use of weaponized commercial drones that explode on impact is a novel phenomenon in the continent.
The covert strikes by Ukraine in Sudan represent a bold and risky move by Kyiv, which is trying to counter Moscow’s aggression and expansion in Europe and beyond.
Ukraine has not officially acknowledged its role in the Sudanese strikes, which were captured in the drone footage. After the CNN report was published, Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, told CNN: “We can neither confirm nor deny this.”
In May 2023 HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov vowed to “destroy Russian war criminals anywhere in the world, wherever they are.” An ongoing, state-sponsored campaign by Ukrainian overseas special operators to hunt down Wagner employees deployed to Sudan would be consistent with Budanov’s promise.
The Wagner Group, which is led by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been providing military support and equipment to Sudan’s paramilitary forces and their leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. Hemedti is a powerful figure in Sudan’s transitional government, which is struggling to maintain stability after the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S. think tank, the Wagner Group’s main goals in Sudan are to secure Moscow’s access to Sudanese gold reserves, the third largest in Africa; to finance its war effort in Ukraine; and to build a naval base at Port Sudan, which would give Russia a strategic foothold in the Red Sea.
The Wagner Group has been involved in several of Russia’s foreign military interventions, such as in Ukraine, Syria and Libya, and has been accused of committing human rights violations and war crimes. In Africa, it has been instrumental in advancing Russia’s interests and influence, often at the expense of local populations and sovereignty.
The Wagner Group has also supplied the RSF with surface-to-air missiles, which have bolstered Hemedti’s position and power in Sudan. Hemedti is locked in a power struggle with Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s armed forces and the leader of the transitional military council. Around 90% of the RSF’s weapons have come from Wagner.
Wagner also has a significant presence in the CAR as well as large parts of eastern Libya, which borders Sudan, and where the renegade General Khalifa Haftar controls vast swathes of territory.