Did Ukraine bring war to Africa?: What is known about the attacks in Sudan against militias supported by Wagner

¿Ukraine is taking the war with Russia to Sudan? Strange drone attacks and a ground operation against a US-backed militia Wagner Group They attracted attention in the African country where a civil war has been going on for six months, in which Russian paramilitaries support one of the conflicting factions.

An investigation by the CNN network begins to answer the unknowns surrounding these actions. As revealed, the special services of Ukraine “probably“were behind the series of attacks on Sudan.

LOOK: Why the United States warns that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is only 45 days away

A Ukrainian military source told CNN that “Ukrainian special services were possibly responsible” for these attacks.

An attack in Sudan that was allegedly carried out by Ukraine.

Specifically, the attacks were against the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSFby its acronym in English), which is believed to be receiving help from the Wagner Group in their fight against the Sudanese army for control of the country.

CNN obtained video footage from attacks that have similar characteristics to drone actions carried out by Ukraine It isin the context of the war with Russia.

According to the American network, in at least eight of the attacks in Sudan Commercial drones widely used by Ukrainians participated, with text in Ukrainian on the drone controller.

The experts consulted by CNN pointed out that the tactic used, that is, the pattern of drones that advance directly at their target, were very uncommon in Sudan and the rest of Africa.

Wim Zwijnenburg, project manager for humanitarian disarmament at PAX, a peace organization in the Netherlands, said it was the first time the drones identified by CNN had been observed in Africa.

LOOK: What could happen to the Wagner Group and who would be Yevgeny Prigozhin’s replacement?

A senior Sudanese military source told CNN he was “not aware of a Ukrainian operation in Sudan”And that he didn’t believe it was true.

As for U.Sseveral officials in that country seemed unaware of the fact and expressed surprise at the suggestion that the attacks and land operation could have been executed by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine also reportedly carried out ground operations in Sudan. (CNN).

“The videos, which alternate between the pilot’s view, the point of view of a drone looking down from above and that of the controller himself, show a succession of drone strikes in and around Omdurman, a city located on the other side of the Nile River. . .from the capital, Khartoum, which became the focus of clashes between the two rival factions”says CNN.

The American network explained that First-person view (FPV) drones allow pilots to see the operation from the drone’s point of view, using glasses or a monitor to view the broadcast in real time. What looks like a drone DJI MAVIC 3 can be seen in videos filming drone strikes. Both types of drones are available on the market and They are widely used by Ukrainian forces, necessary.

In a video showing the drone’s controller monitor, text can be seen in English and Ukrainian, including “Зупинити” or “Stop.” The operator of dronewho appears to be foreign, can also be seen in the controller’s reflection, but is wearing a Ski mask and is not identifiable, says CNN.

A British researcher who runs Caliber Obscura, a website that identifies weapons, analyzed the images and recognized that the device corresponds to those used by the Ukrainian forces to control DJI MAVIC drones.

CNN guarantees that it geographically located the locations of the small-scale attacks It’s from land operation what is seen in the videos drones, but was unable to independently verify the date the videos were recorded. Multiple attacks on the bridge Shambatwhat to CONNECT Ondurmã It is Khartoumappeared to coincide with local reports on social media of an attack on September 8 this year.

According to the investigation, these attacks occurred two days after the Wagner Group facilitate a large weapons convoy to Sudan through a garrison of RSF in al-Zurug, in the southwest of the country, close to the border with Chad.

An employee of Sudan told CNN that a large number of outlets, including several trucks loaded with Wagner weaponsarrived at Zurug on 6 September. CNN obtained satellite images showing more than 100 vehiclesincluding dozens of trucks, at the garrison on the same day that high-level Sudanese sources reported on the weapons convoy.

Meanwhile, two military informants from Chad They told CNN that the convoy traveled through Chad to Zurug, which would be an expansion of the Chad’s sphere of influence. Russia It is Wagner in Africawhich includes Mali, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Libya.

Six of the drone attacks targeted pickup trucks traveling on the bridge Shambat. Another eight attacks targeted parked vehicles, buildings and armed men in Ondurmã and in the western suburbs of Ombadawhere the Sudanese army carried out a series of air strikes against positions of the RSF that took dozens of civilian lives, according to CNN.

As for the ground operation, one of the videos showed at least three foreign fighters appearing to storm a building. In a fragment recorded with a body camera, troops wore night vision goggles and one of the soldiers appeared to be carrying a rocket launcher. An aerial photo shows troops advancing towards the building that was geolocated by CNN in a neighborhood of Ondurmãclose to where the drone attacks occurred.

Previously, CNN had already reported that Wagner has been supplying the RSF with surface-to-air missiles to support her in her struggle for power against the general Abdel Fatah al Burhan, the military ruler of Sudan and head of its armed forces.

The military government of Sudan received support from Wagner in the past, but the Russian paramilitary group abandoned the Sudanese army when fighting broke out this year, starting to support General Mohamed Hamdan Dagloknown as Hemedti, and its combatants in the conflict.

A high-level Sudanese source indicated that “around 90% of weapons in RSF come from Wagner”. He further stated that the supply of weapons has not decreased despite the death of Evgeny Prigozhinand his deputy, Dmitry Utkin, in a plane crash on August 23 in Moscow.

“We have repeatedly asked the Kremlin about supporting Wagner The RSFand they told us that they have no information about this (…) For us, the Kremlin and Wagner have become the same thing”said the Sudanese official.

Speaking to CNN, a Ukrainian military source described the operation as work of a “non-Sudanese army”. When asked whether Kiev was behind the attacks, the source said simply: “The Ukrainian special services were probably responsible.”

Coup d’état in Sudan. (AFP).

Source: Elcomercio