Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin hails Niger military coup – National | 24CA News
Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who stays lively regardless of main a failed mutiny in opposition to the Russian military’s high brass final month, has hailed Niger’s navy coup pretty much as good news and supplied his fighters’ providers to carry order.
A voice message on Telegram app channels related to Wagner which they stated was Prigozhin didn’t declare involvement within the coup, however described it as a second of lengthy overdue liberation from Western colonizers and made what appeared like a pitch for his fighters to assist maintain order.
“What happened in Niger is nothing other than the struggle of the people of Niger with their colonizers. With colonizers who are trying to foist their rules of life on them and their conditions and keep them in the state that Africa was in hundreds of years ago,” stated the message, posted on Thursday night.
The speaker had the identical distinctive intonation and switch of phrase in Russian because the Wagner boss though Reuters was not capable of verify with certainty that it was him.
“Today this is effectively gaining their independence. The rest will without doubt depend on the citizens of Niger and how effective governance will be, but the main thing is this: they have got rid of the colonizers,” the message stated.
It was unclear who was in command of Niger after troopers on Wednesday night declared a navy coup and held President Mohamed Bazoum within the presidential palace.
The nation, one of many poorest on this planet however which additionally holds a few of its greatest uranium deposits, declared full independence from former colonial ruler France in 1960.
The voice message was the most recent signal that Prigozhin and his males stay lively in Africa, the place they nonetheless have safety contracts in some nations like Central African Republic (CAR), and are eager to broaden.
Prigozhin, 62, seems to proceed to take pleasure in freedom of motion regardless of what the Kremlin stated final month was a post-mutiny deal that will see him relocate to neighboring Belarus the place a few of his males have already began coaching the military.
He was heard in a video launched earlier this month telling his males in Belarus that they need to collect their energy for a “new journey to Africa.”
There have been varied sightings of Prigozhin in Russia because the post-mutiny deal was clinched and the Kremlin stated he had even attended a gathering with Putin, who had earlier known as the abortive mutiny “a stab in the back.”
The voice message’s launch coincided with the publication on Telegram of at the very least two pictures purporting to indicate Prigozhin assembly African attendees of a showcase two-day Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg which concludes on Friday.
Reuters verified the placement proven in one of many pictures because the Trezzini Palace lodge in St Petersburg, Prigozhin’s residence city. The lanyard worn by the official from Central African Republic (CAR) he’s proven assembly in the identical {photograph} matches these given to the summit’s delegates.
Smiling and carrying blue denims and a white polo shirt, Prigozhin appears to be like relaxed within the pictures as he poses to shake the palms of the delegates.
Prigozhin, in his voice message, boasted of Wagner’s alleged effectivity in serving to African nations stabilize and develop in what appeared like a gross sales pitch.
.”..Thousands of Wagner fighters are able to bringing order and of destroying terrorists and of not permitting them to hurt the native populations of those states,” he stated.
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s overseas minister, stated on Thursday that constitutional order in Niger must be restored.
Analysts stated the Prigozhin appearances indicated that his personal navy firm (PMC) would proceed to play a task in furthering the Kremlin’s overseas coverage agenda in Africa.
“Yes, it’s wild that Prigozhin is back in Russia, and apparently has been several times. But it’s also in line with both Wagner’s and Russia’s goals to project normalcy and business as usual,” Catrina Doxsee, an professional on the U.S. CSIS suppose tank, stated on messaging platform X.
“Moscow will likely use the Summit to reassure African partners of their commitment and continuity of PMC services in the wake of the uncertainty from the past month,” she stated.
