The Kremlin continues to gradually neutralize the influence of the Wagner Group Private Military Company (PMC), which became an acknowledged threat following its Prigozhin-led mutiny in 2023.
Recently, Moscow has been tightening control of overseas operations and aiming to centralize its security activities, while Wagner operatives still operate independently in the Central African Republic and Belarus, their presence in other countries has already been replaced by official Russian units, according to British intelligence.
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The Wagner Group is an armed Russian para-military organization declared in the West to be an international criminal and terrorist organization. The mercenary group, whose members include individuals convicted of serious felonious crimes, was established in Russia in 2013 to represent Moscow in armed conflicts without deploying its regular uniformed military forces.
As noted in the briefing, in June 2025 the Russian Defense Ministry fully withdrew Wagner forces from Mali and replaced them with the so-called African Corps. The new contingent numbers around 2,000 mercenaries, whereas previously up to 2,500 Wagner fighters had operated in the country.
Simultaneously, Russia deployed over 100 pieces of heavy weaponry, including main battle tanks, multiple launcher rocket systems (MLRS), and tactical bomber aircraft – significantly reinforcing its military presence.
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The report states that following the failed mutiny organized in 2023 by Wagner under the leadership of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Defense Ministry has sought to gain full control over the country’s overseas military operations.
Once seen as a convenient means of surreptitiously projecting Kremlin power, independent PMCs are now viewed as a potential threat to Moscow’s national security.
In June 2023 Prigozhin launched a mutiny, taking his 25,000 men and tanks off the battlefield in Ukraine and sending them to Rostov-on-Don to seize the headquarters of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces.
Since putting down that attempted coup, Defense Ministry-controlled forces replaced Wagner in Syria in 2023, in Libya in 2024, and now in Mali. Such a replacement allows the Kremlin to formalize international military relations and simultaneously reduce the risk of further uprisings from private armies.
Despite losing influence in a number of countries, Wagner still maintains a presence and some autonomy in specific regions. In particular, around 2,000 and 300 fighters remain active in the Central African Republic and Belarus, respectively. However, the UK Ministry of Defence notes that the overall scale and influence of Wagner has significantly diminished compared to its peak in 2022–2023.
Kyiv Post reporting has repeatedly highlighted the presence of Ukraine’s military intelligence in regions where Russia maintains significant influence – including Sudan, Syria, and other countries where Moscow supports paramilitary groups or Kremlin-allied regimes.
In May 2023, HUR chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov promised to “destroy Russian war criminals anywhere in the world they may be.”
Ukrainian HUR special forces continue hunting for pro-Kremlin Wagner mercenaries in Sudan and other parts of the African continent:
Mali
Last July, Kyiv Post received a unique photo of Malian Tuareg rebels posing with the Ukrainian flag, showing their support for Ukraine.
Sudan
In November 2023, Kyiv Post got an exclusive video allegedly showing Ukrainian special forces performing “cleaning up” operations of Wagner fighters in Sudan.
In January 2024, Kyiv Post published an exclusive video allegedly showing Ukrainian drones destroying “Russian mercenaries” and their “local terrorist partners” in Sudan.
And in February 2024, Kyiv Post acquired exclusive footage allegedly showing Ukrainian special forces interrogating captured Wagner Group mercenaries in the Republic of Sudan. In the video, the prisoners confess that their mission was to get to Sudan and overthrow the government there.
Syria
In addition to Sudan, last June, Kyiv Post published exclusive footage of Ukrainian special forces attacking enemy checkpoints, strongholds, foot patrols, and columns of military equipment in the Golan Heights in Syria.
According to Kyiv Post’s HUR source, since the beginning of the year, insurgents, with the support of Ukrainian fighters, have struck numerous times against Russian military facilities under the control of the so-called Russian Armed Forces Group in the Syrian Arab Republic.
At the end of July 2024, Kyiv Post received several exclusive videos and photos showing the continuation of the special operation by HUR units to destroy Russian forces in Syria.
According to Kyiv Post sources in the special service, the Khimik group carried out another complex attack on Russian occupation forces in Syria in late July 2024. This time, the target was Russian military equipment at the Kuweires airfield, located east of Aleppo.
Later, exclusive footage from Kyiv Post sources appears to show HUR special forces attacking a Russian base in Syria, near Aleppo, on Sept. 15, where Moscow was producing and testing lethal, bomb-laden unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
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