Russia's Africa Corps continues to expand in Africa under new leadership. It is the latest iteration in Moscow's ongoing experiment with private military companies (PMCs).
Thanks for the interesting article. The spread of Russian and Chinese private military company activity in Africa and the Indo-Pacific Region is little reported, but is a significant security issue in both regions. Dimitry Utkin, the ex-Spetznaz colonel and original operational leader of Wagner Group sported a selection of Nazi inspired tattoos. So the 'Afrika Corps' branding is not surprising.
Tarun, who started calling this unit Afrika Corps? The Russians are bad guys and I'm not convinced the Ukrainian officials are any better, but this name reflects back to the German (Nazi) Army in North Africa during WWII. Certainly, Russia is not calling themselves after a WWII German Army Corps???
Thanks, this article does have some great information.
Thanks for reading, Joseph. The group calls itself Africa Corps (here is its telegram channel for example: https://t.me/KorpusAfrica/210) as does the Russian MoD, apparently. The name certainly derives from the group's focus on Africa. But the Nazi undertones are also interesting. It makes sense for the group to have a name that serves as a rallying point for members who come from, or have links to, an array of ultranationalist and white supremacist groups, such as the Russian Imperial Movement and Task Force Rusich.
Thank you for the insightful reply Tarun, apparently Putin finds these groups useful no matter the ties. Germany recently expelled a small group of Ukrainian's they were training when they discovered their extremist (Nazi) beliefs. I prefer to think of these extremist as both left wing, much like Issis and Taliban, the terrorists fight among themselves for power.
Thanks for the interesting article. The spread of Russian and Chinese private military company activity in Africa and the Indo-Pacific Region is little reported, but is a significant security issue in both regions. Dimitry Utkin, the ex-Spetznaz colonel and original operational leader of Wagner Group sported a selection of Nazi inspired tattoos. So the 'Afrika Corps' branding is not surprising.
Tarun, who started calling this unit Afrika Corps? The Russians are bad guys and I'm not convinced the Ukrainian officials are any better, but this name reflects back to the German (Nazi) Army in North Africa during WWII. Certainly, Russia is not calling themselves after a WWII German Army Corps???
Thanks, this article does have some great information.
Thanks for reading, Joseph. The group calls itself Africa Corps (here is its telegram channel for example: https://t.me/KorpusAfrica/210) as does the Russian MoD, apparently. The name certainly derives from the group's focus on Africa. But the Nazi undertones are also interesting. It makes sense for the group to have a name that serves as a rallying point for members who come from, or have links to, an array of ultranationalist and white supremacist groups, such as the Russian Imperial Movement and Task Force Rusich.
Thank you for the insightful reply Tarun, apparently Putin finds these groups useful no matter the ties. Germany recently expelled a small group of Ukrainian's they were training when they discovered their extremist (Nazi) beliefs. I prefer to think of these extremist as both left wing, much like Issis and Taliban, the terrorists fight among themselves for power.