Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia: Russia Prepared a Coup in Senegal

The Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia was preparing a military coup in Senegal. According to leaked internal documents, amid ongoing protests in the country, Russian operatives planned to enlist local military officers to seize power.

The Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia was expected to secure political and logistical support for the new regime, reports All Eyes on Wagner.

After the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the network of the private military company Wagner Group was placed under the direct control of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia . An investigation based on 76 internal documents from 2023–2024 details how the group’s assets were transferred under state management.

Key figures in the restructured network include Sergey Mashkevich, Sergey Klyukin, and Artem Gorny. Mashkevich, a former official in Russia’s Presidential Administration, oversaw operations in Sudan and Bolivia.

The African Political Science project operates on a monthly budget of approximately $750,000. From offices in Saint Petersburg, the network coordinates activities in more than 30 countries.

The organization is divided into two branches: “political science” (lobbying and interference in legislation) and “media” (the creation of manipulative content through social networks).

Information campaigns include the large-scale placement of paid materials in local media outlets.

In August 2024 alone, the network spent $340,000 to publish more than 500 articles and videos. The materials were disguised as commercial content through intermediaries to conceal funding from Russia.

Plans of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia in Other African Countries

In Mali, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia provides intelligence on the military and political plans of France and the United States. The agency also offered diplomatic support for the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – a bloc of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. This enabled Russia to push out Western partners and consolidate its influence.

In the Central African Republic, the strategy is aimed at displacing the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSCA. Documents indicate attempts to plant agents of influence within the mission’s leadership and UN expert groups.Meanwhile, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia is facilitating projects to supply Russian fuel to the country and protecting the business interests linked to resource extraction.

In Niger, Russian operatives conducted operations against the French company Orano in an effort to push competitors out of the uranium market. In Mozambique, they collect information on Western “agents of influence” and the business ties of foreign energy companies. The goal is to gain control over strategic energy and mineral markets.

In Namibia, Russian political technologists fabricated a letter allegedly written by a British Member of Parliament about secret funding for the opposition. After the fake was circulated, diplomats from the United Kingdom were forced to issue a public denial on national television. In this way, Russia sought to discredit opponents of the incumbent government ahead of elections.