Moscow Expands African Influence Campaign via ‘Russian Houses,’ Ukraine Says

Russia is quietly expanding a network of cultural and educational centers across Africa known as “Russian Houses” as part of its long-term influence campaign, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR).

HUR said the campaign aims to target young Africans with pro-Russian messaging while simultaneously recruiting laborers and students to move to Russia.

The agency suggests in its Tuesday press release that the Kremlin’s strategy in Africa extends far beyond weapons deliveries and military support for friendly regimes.

Expanding network of “Russian Houses”

According to HUR, Russia plans to open so-called “Russian Houses” in at least eight African countries, including Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Mozambique, Mali, Senegal, Liberia and Sao Tome and Principe.

The initiative is being coordinated through Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian government agency responsible for cultural diplomacy abroad, in cooperation with the Center for People’s Diplomacy, an organization established in 2024 to expand Russia’s presence across Africa.

HUR said the group is headed by Dmitry Savelyev, a Russian lawmaker from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party, and includes several senior officials responsible for educational and outreach programs across the continent.

The project involving “Russian Houses” in Africa is coordinated by a steering committee, HUR added:

• Natalia Krasovskaya — executive director; as a co-founder, she also heads the “Consortium of Russian Universities for Cooperation with African Countries”
• Leonid Isaev — advisor to the executive director, responsible for organizing delegation visits to Africa; Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Valeria Manovitskaya — deputy executive director, head of the Department of Educational Projects, and coordinator of “Rossotrudnichestvo” and “Russian Houses” in Africa

“The primary target audience is young people,” HUR said.

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While Moscow presents the centers as cultural and educational institutions that provide Africans with what it describes as “reliable information” about Russia, Ukrainian intelligence argues they serve a broader geopolitical purpose.

According to HUR, the centers are expected to organize screenings of Soviet and Russian films, distribute literature promoting Kremlin narratives and offer Russian-language instruction.

The agency said Russia is also enticing African students and workers to relocate to Russia through the program, but argued that past examples have shown that some were unwittingly lured into fighting on the front.

HUR cited previous cases of African nationals who traveled to Russia, signed military contracts, and were later deployed to fight in Ukraine. The agency referenced reported deaths of citizens of Nigeria and Kenya serving in Russian forces.

The claims also align with reporting by Kyiv Post in 2025, when it gained rare access to one of Ukraine’s largest prisoner-of-war camps and interviewed foreign fighters captured while serving in Russian forces.

Several said they had initially traveled to Russia as students or migrant workers before financial pressures, visa issues or promises of legal status led them to sign military contracts. After being deployed to the front, many said the reality of the war bore little resemblance to what they had expected.

According to HUR, the new network of Russian Houses is intended to cultivate a generation of Africans sympathetic to Moscow and less likely to challenge Russian activities in their countries.

The agency alleges that Russia’s ultimate objective remains to secure access to strategic natural resources and to exert political influence.

As an example, HUR pointed to Sudan, where it claimed Kremlin-linked groups were involved in environmentally damaging gold mining operations that contaminated local water supplies with mercury.