The beating with pro-Russian separatists as part of Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine was not mentioned in Luhansk University brochures when Jean-Claude Sangwa, a 27-year-old student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, moved to the breakaway region to pursue an economy last year.
But when the leader of the Kremlin-controlled, self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic announced full military mobilization in the region on February 19th, Sangwa, along with two friends and fellow students from the DRC and the Central African Republic, decided to join local militia and take up arms against Ukraine.
“I joined because the war came to our republic. What was I supposed to do? “I’m a man and I have to fight,” Sangwa said in broken Russian. “The whole world is fighting against Russia,” he added when asked why he decided to join the militia.
Sangwa moved to Russia two years ago to study in Rostov, a city near the Ukrainian border, and then moved to Luhansk, which was captured by separatists backed by the Russian army in 2014.
There is a long tradition of Africans studying in Russia, dating back to the time when the Soviet Union began offering scholarships to African students in the newly independent socialist and communist states in the postcolonial period.
Between the late 1950s and 1990, about 400,000 Africans studied in the Soviet Union. Although their numbers have dropped significantly since the fall of communism, Vladimir Putin recently said more than 17,000 Africans are currently enrolled in Russian universities.
Shortly after joining the Luhansk police, Sangwa was sent into battle and spent two months fighting. During this time, many of his African friends speculated that he was dead and said goodbye to messages on his social media accounts.
Three days after the start of the war, on February 27, a photo of Sangwa was published online by Find Your Own, a telegram channel set up by Ukraine’s Interior Ministry to identify captured and killed soldiers. The publication says Sangwa was killed by Ukrainian forces along with another African soldier.
“The Ukrainian enemy found my military card and said I was dead. “I’m alive, as you can see,” Sangwa said. He is currently patrolling the streets of Luhansk again as a member of the militia.
Pro-Russian forces pass a ruined apartment building in Popasna, Luhansk, in May. Photo: Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters
There is no evidence that in addition to Sangwa and his two friends, other African troops have been sent to Ukraine. But while Sangwa’s history is unusual, his pro-Moscow sentiments and views on who is responsible for the war are widespread in much of Africa.
“Of course, the West likes to think that sanctions have isolated Russia on a global scale,” said Paul Stronsky, a senior fellow at Russia and a specialist on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “And they did when it came to the transatlantic community and rich Asian countries. But in the eyes of the rest of the world, and especially on the African continent, Russia is not so isolated.
For many years, Stronsky said, Moscow has cultivated ties with African leaders, and in 2019 Putin hosted the first Russian-African summit attended by leaders of 43 African countries.
“Many on the African continent now believe that the conflict is driven by NATO enlargement, by reckless Western policies,” Stronsky said.
According to Stronsky, part of Africa’s support for Russia can be explained by anti-Western sentiments stemming from the legacy of European colonialism. Russia has been accused of exacerbating these complaints through disinformation campaigns on the continent.
“In Africa, the West is also accused of double standards, caring more for Ukraine and its refugees than for other tragedies unfolding in Africa and around the world,” Stronsky added.
Some of Putin’s most enthusiastic supporters since the start of the war have been pan-Africanists, defenders of the doctrine of African unity and anti-imperialism.
Putin is simply “wanting his country back,” said Kemi Seba, a prominent Franco-Beninese pan-Africanist, in early March. “He does not have the blood of slavery and the colonization of his hands. He is not my messiah, but I prefer him to all Western presidents.
Similarly, a leader of the Nigerian community in Moscow told the Guardian that most Nigerians there are sympathetic to Russia. “The issue is complex, but the West has pushed Russia to do so,” he said.
Pro-Russian rally in Bangui, Central African Republic, in March. Photo: Carol Valade / AFP / Getty Images
Beyond morality, Russia has established itself in Africa by developing defensive alliances, supplying weapons to authoritarian leaders without restriction and presenting itself as an ally against armed rebels.
Several African leaders, most notably South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, have openly said they believe the West’s efforts to expand NATO have contributed to the war.
Although African nations are likely to be disproportionately affected by the impending global food crisis due to their heavy dependence on Russian and Ukrainian wheat, some African leaders have shifted blame for food shortages and rising prices in the West, parroting Russia’s narratives.
During a meeting with Putin in Sochi on Friday, Senegalese President Maki Sol, the current president of the African Union, blamed EU sanctions on Russian banks and products for aggravating the problem and withdrew from criticizing Russia’s actions, including its blockade. of Ukrainian ports.
Despite its political influence in parts of Africa, Moscow has not yet indicated its intention to recruit troops from the continent or elsewhere to bolster its forces, although there have been reports that Russia faces a shortage of infantry.
Kremlin officials have been quick to downplay reports that several hundred local men in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, gathered in front of the Russian embassy in April in hopes of fighting in Ukraine.
However, pro-Kremlin voices saw Sangwa’s presence in Luhansk as a sign of growing military ties between Russia and Africa.
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On May 31, the WarGonzo telegram channel, led by popular Russian propagandist Semyon Pegov, posted a video of Sangwa in full military gear patrolling Luhansk.
“It’s not just our Wagner boys in the Congo,” Pegov said, referring to the notorious Kremlin-linked private military group that supports authoritarian leaders in Mali, the Central African Republic and Sangwa’s home country, the DRC. “Now our Congolese boys are also in Luhansk.
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