Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listened to a report from the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Oleg Lugovskyi, on April 29 regarding the situation with Russia’s military presence on the African continent. According to intelligence data, Russia has significantly increased its military group in African countries.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Expansion of Russia’s Military Presence and New Threats
According to the information, the number of Russian military personnel in African countries has increased by an additional 8,000. In addition to increasing troop numbers, Russia is actively implementing the use of drones, organizing their supply, establishing local production, and conducting specialized personnel training.
“Russian contingents in African countries have recently been increased by an additional 8,000 personnel, and Russia is trying to implement the use of drones in each host country through supply, local production, and training.”
The President emphasized that such military activity by Russia could lead to the modernization and strengthening of terrorist groups, contribute to cross-border crime, and destabilize regions that are critical in terms of migration flows.
Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the importance of international coordination in countering these threats and noted that Ukraine plans to cooperate more closely with partners to prevent negative consequences.
Impact of Ukrainian Strikes and Counteraction to Investments
The head of state also reported that significant export losses for Russia have been recorded due to Ukrainian long-range strikes on port infrastructure. In particular, the port of Primorsk lost 13% of its cargo, Novorossiysk — 38%, and Ust-Luga — 43%. The President believes these figures may be underestimated in internal Russian documents.
Volodymyr Zelensky shared that Ukrainian intelligence has obtained Russian documents detailing the strategy to counter Ukraine’s international contacts, particularly in the area of “Drone Deals.” The Russian leadership identifies the ability of Ukraine to attract additional investments as one of the main challenges and prioritizes attempts to hinder Kyiv’s access to investments and disrupt security and production agreements.
It is expected that Russia will intensify efforts aimed at countering Ukraine’s cooperation with countries in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.
Recently, the so-called African Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that its units, together with the Malian government forces, left the city of Kidal in the northeast of the country after an attack by armed anti-government formations.