Russia recruiting African soldiers for the Ukraine

 I did note in past posts about Russian mercenaries in the Sudan and North Africa.

But today's Strategypage has an essay about recruiting Africans to join their fight in the Ukraine. 

Some of these are of course Africans studying or living in Russia (before the cold war ended, a lot of Africans got scholarships to study in Eastern Europe or in Russia: Sometimes the training was good, e.g. doctors, but it also included a lot of political indoctrination back then, However, the help from the USSR was seen as good by some, in contrast to the exploitation by European countries. One wonders where the atrocities of the Wagner group in the Sudan (or the presence of Ukrainians in several conflicts there) etc and the economic exploitation of China comes into this: I should note that I am no longer in touch with what is going on in Africa.

However today's essay is about the missionary outreach of the Russian Orthodox church in Africa. 

Currently Africa has over 730 million Christians, the largest number of any region in the world. Russian Orthodox Church missionaries are actively seeking new converts from other Christian sects as well as Moslem Africans.

 the problem: The Russian Orthodox church is a quasi religious organization that is associated with the state and obeys their policies. Unlike the west,where 800 years ago the separation of church and state was pushed through, this is not true for Russia.

and now the Russian government is pushing converts to join Mother Russia to help them support the military (non combat roles) and of course with promise of good payment, some of these volunteers (and students studying in Russia) end up as soldiers.

this Reuters article from last year is about one African student who joined the Wagner group fighting in the Ukraine.

Wikipedia article notes the number of Orthodox in various countries around the world (something that the western Protestant oriented MSM is blind to).

but yes there is a Wikipedia page on the Russian Orthodoxy in Africa. and notes the changes in jurisdiction of the Orthodox in that continent in recent years.

Masaman has a short video about the Orthodox Christians in the world

the unforgotten repeated wars of Sudan

 The headlines shout all about Gaza Genocide, but the deaths and refugees there are small next to other wars around the world. (Syria, Chcchnya,  Rohingye from Burma to name a few).

The worst genocide is in Sudan.

of course the expert wants the US to go in and voila make peace there. But why? It is Europe who messed the area up, and before that it was the Ottoman Empire and Muslim extremists who messed up the area.

 Sounds like the Europeans want TeamAmerica World police to fix it, so they can then criticize the USA and their policies. But the election of Trump suggests that the US is tired of being the world policeman while an affluent Europe sits back and ridicules the USA. 

And with Trumpieboy as president, they are chomping at the bits to find why he is the great Satan. (just like they did when Reagan was President)...

there is a Russian aspect of this: the Wagner Group is working with the rebels.

it's about gold....

this is a recent report on the Wagner group in the central African republic.:

Russia used to offer oodles of scholarships to Africans during the cold war: Often the degrees were useless and mainly learning propaganda.

Actually if the want Africans to succeed, they should teach them Chinese, since China is running the economy in many African countries. But that is another story for another day.

FIGHTING TERRORISM BY BUILDING UP CIVIL SOCIETY

This is from a military site and is about the importance of building civil institutions so that people don't turn to extremists to fix things.

LINK

Nigeria, warmly referred to as “Big Brother” by many people across Africa, teeters on the edge of chaos. Discontent among Nigerians has reached a boiling point, and their voices of frustration are growing louder. The protests that took place across the country from August 1–10 were a cry for help, a call to action, and a demand for change.

Those protests, organized under the hashtag #EndBadGovernance, have largely subsided, but unrest continues to smolder in a handful of states with frangible stability and an especially aggrieved citizenry who have a distrust of security and governing entities. Their continued dissatisfaction may well reemerge as further protests or manifest more broadly in unrest and conflict that could turn violent. However, it is more likely that the protest movement will slowly dissipate and that the government response will not fully address their concerns.

full essay here.

Preventing Future Violence and Unrest – Lessons Learned from Nigerian Civil Society and Recent Protests 

by Tammy Palacios 

August 22, 2024 

Complex Emergencies and Humanitarian Crises 

18 min read

Nigerians are staging a protest over hardship and bad governance, tagged #EndBadGovernance, in Ojota, Lagos, Nigeria, on Aug. 2, 2024. (Photo by Adekunle Ajayi)