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Coverage · Eastern Europe

Non-state actor

Wagner successor / Africa Corps

Moscow-aligned PMC lineage · expeditionary

Last reviewed
2026-09-28

AssessmentLow confidence

Figures carry their own uncertainty. Population, economic and military-spending data in wartime are estimates, often contested; every figure below shows its as-of date and a confidence grade, and leadership positions reflect the last review date and change without notice.

What this actor is

The reorganised remnant of the Wagner Group after its 2023 mutiny and the death of its founder — formally folded under Ministry of Defence control, functioning as Russia's deniable expeditionary arm, primarily in Africa.

Confidence: Low Reviewed 2026-09-28

Estimated manpowerlow tens of thousandsAs of 2025 · Confidence: Low across all theatres; no reliable public count
Area of influenceSahel · Libya · CARAs of 2025 · Confidence: Moderate Ukraine role marginal since 2023
Funding basisstate contracts + resource concessionsAs of 2025 · Confidence: Moderate
External patronRussian state (MoD/GRU)As of 2025 · Confidence: High

Ideology & purpose

No coherent ideology; nominal Russian nationalism over a commercial-expeditionary core. Sells regime security to embattled governments in exchange for mining concessions and geopolitical alignment with Moscow.

Command structure

As of reviewed 2026-09-28
StatusPost-2023 structures subordinated to the Russian Ministry of Defence; "Africa Corps" branding for state-run successor operations
Line of direction (reported)Specialist analysis consistently places the successor structures under the oversight of Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who toured the African host states in August–September 2023 with Lieutenant General Andrei Averyanov of the GRU, to whom military command is attributed. No appointment order or staffing table has been published: this is the reported line, carried as reported, and the reason the record's grade stays low rather than moving to moderate. Reviewed 2026-09-28 without a documented change
Field command, Mali (reported)Major General Vladimir Selivyorstov, a Russian airborne officer who commanded a division in the 2022 Kyiv operation, is named in April 2026 reporting as the Africa Corps commander in Mali. Reported, not attributable to a published appointment; the Ministry of Defence line above him is described in reporting rather than documented, which is why this record's grade stays low. The Mali posture itself — the consolidation around Bamako and the evacuation of the north during the April–May 2026 offensives — is carried on the Sahel module's Africa Corps records, not here
LineageWagner Group (2014–2023) → reorganised successor networks; the atlas tracks predecessor→successor, not a single fixed name
WingsNo political wing; influence operations and media networks act as the non-military arm

Sources: Al Jazeera English↗ · Established international media reporting · US / EU / UK sanctions designations · ISW campaign assessments↗

Governance capacity

None of its own. Provides security services, presidential guard functions and counterinsurgency muscle to host regimes; governance outcomes in host states are typically extractive and repressive.

International status

Widely sanctioned (US, EU, UK); designated a transnational criminal organisation by the US. Operates through opaque corporate shells, which is precisely why estimates carry low confidence.

Strategic vulnerabilities

Legitimacy and command tensions inherited from the mutiny; dependence on Russian state logistics; exposure to local insurgent reversals; recruitment competition with the regular army's contract bonuses.

Not published for Wagner successor / Africa CorpsPosture (objectives, constraints, leverage)

Elsewhere in Ukraine–Russia

Economic profile All Ukraine–Russia profiles
Confidence: Low Between low and moderate; opaque structures graded conservatively. The line of direction — a deputy defence minister's oversight and a GRU general's command — is established in specialist reporting and in no published appointment, so it is carried as reported and the grade is not raised on it. Leadership checked 2026-09-28 Sources: US / EU / UK sanctions designations · Established international media reporting · ISW campaign assessments↗ Methodology Corrections Open in Explore

Last reviewed — 2026-09-28

Connected records

4 records that Wagner successor / Africa Corps names, or that name it — every one an explicit reference in a published record, nothing inferred from subject matter.

Relationships1

Standing relationships whose record names this actor as a party, with the type, status and validity the record states.

Forces and formations1

Organisations this actor commands or sponsors, as named on its own record.

Named in these events2

Dated events whose record names this actor.