The war in Ukraine divides Africa

Article by Akram Kharief

After two months of inconclusive attempts, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelynsky succeeded on June 20 in addressing African representatives at a closed-door meeting of the African Union in Addis Ababa.^[1] Since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, Kiev has never shown any political or even economic interest in Africa. Ukraine has considered the continent as a potential buyer of arms and grain – during the three resolutions voted at the United Nations condemning the invasion or sanctioning Russia, the African countries created a surprise by their determination to prove that the issue of the war in Ukraine was not unanimous among them. In the first resolution on March 2 sanctioning Russia, although 27 of the 54 African countries voted for the sanctions, half of the countries that did not condemn Russia were African, and 66% of those that did not attend the vote were also African. These statistics were little changed in the second vote on April 7, but were greatly worsened in the vote to exclude Russia from the UN Commission on Human Rights, where the number of African countries voting ‘no’ increased from 1 to 9 (44% of the no’s were from Africa), 44% of African countries abstained and 11 did not participate.

This attitude from African countries was noticeable during Zelensky’s speech to the AU. Only four African presidents attended the Ukrainian president’s speech, including Macky Sall from Senegal, who had just come back from a meeting with President Putin in Sochi. For the President of Senegal, whose country holds the chairmanship of the AU, the central issue for Africa remains the risk of food shortage. From his meeting with his Russian counterpart, Macky Sall said he was reassured and very happy with the discussions he had with him. “I came to see you, to ask you to be aware that our countries, even if they are far from the theater, are victims of this crisis, economically,” he said at the beginning of the meeting. The Russian president mentioned “several ways to facilitate the export” of tons of grain and fertilizer for the continent blocked in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian offensive.^[2]

This meeting had a significant impact on participants’ comments on Zelensky’s speech, as during the Q&A session, the Senegalese president reminded his Ukrainian counterpart of the need to clear the port of Odessa of mines and to move toward negotiations with the Russians to prevent the food disaster that could overtake Africa in the coming months.^[3]

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the narrative has focused mainly on the role of NATO, Russia and Ukraine’s neighbours. Yet, from the beginning and even before, this conflict had a connection with some African countries, since Africa has generally not followed the call for a blind alignment with Western positions.

Well-known “Slavic” mercenaries in Africa

Russia has clearly been part of a long-term strategy in Africa. As a long-standing arms supplier to the continent, Moscow has literally stepped its “boots on the ground” in Africa since 2015, and has seen a blistering expansion of its activities in recent years. Less known is the fact that Ukraine also has a strong presence in the black continent, including in the field of private security. Because yes, there is not only the Wagner Group on the African market. A Ukrainian private military company has long operated in African stages in the fight against various insurgencies, whether Islamist or not, in West Africa. Omega Consulting Group, established in late 2011, was the pioneer of Ukrainian military companies on the African continent. It became known to the public by launching, around 2017, a large recruitment campaign of French-speaking operators for its activities in Burkina-Faso. OCG is active in about 10 African countries and has a footprint in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.^[4] In 2014, OCG staff participated in the emergency evacuation of senior administration officials from the autonomous regions of Crimea and Donbass.^[5]

Africa is also a paradise for Ukrainian fighter pilots. In Chad for example, a small team of Su-25 light bomber pilots have formed the backbone of the Chadian air force. They played a decisive role in saving both Idriss’ and Mahamat Déby’s regime in 2021 during the FACT rebel offensive on N’Djamena.

Long before, in 2004, the government forces of President Laurent Gbagbo were mainly supported by Ukrainian as well as Belarusian and Russian pilots, who operated Su-25 bombers and provided maintenance, weapons and spare parts. On November 6, 2004, they were the ones who bombed the French military base of Operation Licrone in Bouaké, Ivory Coast. France subsequently prosecuted two Belarusian pilots and two Ivorian weapons officers, in retaliation for what was presented by Paris as a crime.

The aircraft of Ukrainian Helicopters have been scouring the runways in Africa since 2006. More focused on humanitarian and international missions, the military logistics company^[6] only left Africa on May 31, 2022, three months after the war in Ukraine began.^[7] No less than 6 Mi-171 helicopters were withdrawn from the United Nations International Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

On March 9, Kiev also requested the repatriation of the 250-member military contingent it is deploying in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of Monusco. Another major Ukrainian company specializing in maintenance and the supply of spare parts to African armies, Motor Sich, which manufactures the turbines for the majority of Soviet helicopters, is functioning in dire straits in Africa. This company has ensured the sale of Su-25 light bombers to the Niger air force in 2021.

The bombing by the Russian army of the Ukrainian military industrial apparatus was a severe blow to logistical networks in Africa and accelerated the departure of “cooperants” to their country.

On March 2, 2022, the French police intercepted a bus leaving for Ukraine, with 14 legionaries on board, including deserters of Ukrainian origin, along with a group of technicians and engineers heading back from Africa.^[8]

African weapons in the Ukrainian conflict

The other connection between Africa and the conflict in Ukraine is the use of weapons produced on the African continent by both armies. When completing their withdrawal from Kazakhtan on 19 January 2022, Russian paratroopers and special forces, who had successfully restored order in the former Soviet republic, returned with a few units of the Kazakh Arlan armoured vehicle, which is actually a locally-licensed manufacture of the South African Marauder armoured vehicle, built by Paramount Group. No information has been given by the Russian army on this subject, but several vehicles were used by Chechen forces engaged under the banner of Rosgvardia during the battles of Mariupol from March to May.

The Marauder is what is called in military jargon a MRAP (Mine resistant, Ambush protected), an all-terrain, 4 or 6-wheel drive, heavily armored and highly mobile troop transport vehicle that features the protection of transported soldiers against explosions and gunfire. This type of vehicle was invented in South Africa during the Bush war / Border war in the 1970s and 1980s. It was more widely used and adopted during the U.S. Army’s “wars on terror” in the Middle East in the 2000s.

The concept would even be used by the Russian Army from 2010 onwards for its anti-terrorist operations and regular troops with local manufacturers like Kamaz, Remdizel, Ural and VPK. This reflected an evolution of the Russian doctrine, from immoderate use of unprotected, or poorly protected, troops to an absolute concern for the protection of soldiers and officers in operations. On the other hand, the Ukrainian military industry had invested heavily in the development of this type of vehicle through the Practica, Brontekhnika and Avtokraz companies.

But at the end of May 2022, South African MRAPs Mamba Mk2 appeared in the ranks of the Ukrainian army, as a military aid provided by the Estonian army to Ukraine. The same type of vehicles appeared in June in the hands of the Kraken Battalion, a paramilitary formation similar to the Azov regiments.^[9] Some were destroyed or seized by the Russians in mid-June during the battles around Kharkiv.^[10]

Russian and Ukrainian special forces have adopted a South African sniper rifle designed for their respective special missions, the Truvelo CMS, which is used for anti-material fire and long-range target elimination.^[11] South African-Ukrainian collaboration in the field of armaments has been going on much longer than this war. The Ukrainian anti-tank missile, Stugna P, which was very successful in the hands of their armed forces during the battles of Kiev and Kharkiv, has a South African DNA. This missile, developed by Luch Design Bureau in Kiev, had benefited from French funding and technological input from South African companies such as Denel and ATE in the early 2000s.

The ambition at the time was to create a low-cost laser-guided anti-tank missile for Western armies based on Ingwe or Mokopa missile technology. This project led to the design of the Ukrainian RK-2 Barrier missile (or BER-ER V) which was to equip Azeri helicopters modified by the South Africans from ATE. The RK-2 Barrier will later give rise to the Skif and Stugna P missiles, currently used by the Ukrainian army.

The financial difficulties of South African defense companies around 2010 have greatly benefited to Ukraine, whose arms sector was in a great boom. Unable to maintain the fleet of Algerian and Azeri Mi-24 attack helicopters, the Ukrainian company Aviakon (formerly Konotop repair plant) took over the technology and hired the African engineers who worked on the project to this day.^[12] Several observers reported in April that negotiations were taking place between Egypt and the US for the supply of a number of Russian-origin equipment recently imported by the Egyptian army, for the benefit of Ukraine. Military writer Tom Cooper as well as several other sources mentioned an official request from the United States to deliver its 50 Mig-29 fighters to Ukraine, in exchange for various financial and military aid.^[13]^[14] Egypt is more than pleased to exchange these aircraft for American F-16s. The Egyptian army has never confirmed or denied this information and after 120 days of war, no Mig-29 M2, similar to those of Egypt, has been seen in Ukraine.

US extend surveillance to Africa

The US are using a fearsome weapon in their arsenal to force certain countries, including some of those in North Africa, to cooperate: a series of sanctions against states that have bought weapons from Russia. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a law passed by the U.S. Congress that toughens the existing sanctions against Iran, North Korea and Russia, and applies to individuals or companies and institutions that use the dollar in their transactions with the offending countries. This law was signed on August 2, 2017 by President Donald Trump, but it is a legacy from the end of the Obama era. Its legal basis dates back to measures in the Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act, introduced by Democratic Senator Ben Cardin in May 2017.^[15]

These sanctions, which have already been applied to China and Turkey after the purchase of Russian military equipment, include the freezing of assets of entities and individuals sanctioned as well as a ban on exports of U.S. military equipment and cooperation between the United States and the targeted country. The U.S. military aid to Egypt amounts to 1.3 billion dollars per year, representing a contribution of 12% of its defense budget, while the Moroccan army has received the equivalent of 5 billion dollars of U.S. military surplus over the past ten years, making it the second largest recipient of such aid in the world.^[16] Of all North African countries, Algeria is the one that imports the most Russian military equipment and would be the most exposed to CAATSA sanctions. Algiers has limited options: to abandon this sixty-year partnership, keeping a low profile and increasing its efforts to diversify its military supplies and to relax its purchases from Russia for the duration of this crisis, or to ignore U.S. threats and simply not use the dollar as a trading currency with Moscow. Since the beginning of the crisis, Algiers pro-Russian positions tend to support the idea that the last option is to be the most likely one.

Africans facing the horror of war

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, thousands of Africans have been directly exposed to the risks of bombing. The African community in Ukraine is mainly made up of students who are located primarily in Kharkiv and Kiev, thus in the middle of the Russian operational areas. On February 26, only two days after the beginning of the war, a young Algerian, Mohamed Talbi Abdelmonem,^[17] a 24-year-old aeronautics student, died in the fighting in Kharkiv where he was studying. This event had plunged Algeria into turmoil and accelerated the repatriation of 10,000 Algerians^[18] from Ukraine. Other North African countries followed the Algerian example and repatriated their nationals, 12,000 Moroccans,^[19] 6,000 Egyptians^[20] and 1,500 Tunisians^[21] made the difficult journey back to their countries. Together with thousands of Africans, they tried to reach Poland, Hungary or Romania. Many of them were put through hell and complained about the mistreatment of the Ukrainian authorities and population and the segregation of humanitarian aid.

Less than a week after the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmitro Kuleba called for volunteers from the international community to join the Ukrainian army and instructed Ukrainian embassies around the world to relay the call locally. Simultaneously, an advantageous package, including nationality and salary, was offered to foreigners in Ukraine. Very few Africans responded to this call, at least two Algerians, a former student in an irregular situation in Ukraine and a second who had joined a Muslim brigade of Crimean Tatars, were counted among the volunteers. The world then discovered the fate of the young Moroccan Brahim Saadoune, a former student of space technology in Kharkiv and volunteer in the Ukrainian army, who was captured with weapons in hand in Mariupol, Donbass, and sentenced to death on June 9 by a military court of the (self-proclaimed) People’s Republic of Donetsk.

The call by Ukrainian authorities to take up arms as part of an international volunteer effort has angered several African governments, including Algeria and Senegal, which prohibit mercenarism and have urged Ukrainian embassies in their respective capitals to withdraw the call and stop all recruitment procedures. 36 Senegalese volunteers had signed up to fight against Russia.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, which published statistics on foreign fighters engaged in the conflict on the Ukrainian side, 198 Africans fought in Ukraine. Of these, 61 were killed and 62 returned home. The largest contingent was from Niger of 85 volunteers, followed by Algeria of 51 and South Africa of 25. As of today, there are only 75 African fighters left in Ukraine, the majority of whom are Algerians.

What impact for conflict?

After the announcement on July 14 of the lifting of sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department on Russian exports of grain, food, fertilizer and medicine and the evacuation by the Russians of Snake Island off the coast of Odessa, the spectre of famine caused by a suspension of grain exports to Africa has been dispelled. Nevertheless, the war effect on the price of energy, raw materials and agricultural products will significantly impact the already weakened African economies. The economic slowdown in Western countries could also affect African exports of raw materials and basic consumer goods.

In addition, some of the African armies may encounter difficulties in obtaining supplies of arms and ammunition, given that Russia is under sanctions and that the Ukrainian military production apparatus, for what is left of it, has been partially destroyed and totally redirected to the war effort. This could be an opportunity for non-governmental armed groups to increase their presence and pressure on countries at risk and further destabilize the continent. The crisis is likely to benefit China, which offers many alternatives to Russia and already has a massive presence in Africa.

^[1] https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/diplomatie-devant-l-union-africaine-volodymyr-zelensky-peine-a-convaincre

^[2] https://information.tv5monde.com/afrique/crise-alimentaire-le-president-senegalais-macky-sall-critique-les-sanctions-contre-la-russie

^[3] https://afrimag.net/cereales-ukrainiennes-macky-sall-appelle-au-deminage-rapide-du-port-dodessa/

^[4] https://www.greydynamics.com/mercenaries-the-omega-consulting-group/

^[5] The Ukrainian experience of using private military campaigns, Konstantin P.Kurylev, Natalia V.Ivkina, RUDN university Moscow.

^[6] https://ukrcopter.com/en/map

^[7] https://www.africaintelligence.fr/afrique-ouest-et-centrale_diplomatie/2022/05/31/kiev-rapatrie-ses-helicopteres-au-grand-dam-de-la-minusma,109788038-art

^[8] “Conseillers militaires ukrainiens en Afrique : le grand rapatriement” in Africa Intelligence, March 11, 2022.

^[9] https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/news/africa/questions-over-use-of-sa-mamba-in-ukraine-conflict-425583e0-fc41-45e3-a993-94cbfc7247f2

^[10] https://twitter.com/zloneversleep/status/1537402917627518976

^[11] https://navyseals.com/5283/weapons-of-the-russian-special-forces/

^[12] https://www.africandefence.net/has-nigeria-acquired-superhinds/