VIGIL CONSILIUMSearch
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Conflict coverage · Eastern Europe

Non-state actor

Wagner successor / Africa Corps

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.

Moscow-alignedPMC lineage · expeditionary

Last reviewed
2026-06

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.

low tens of thousands
Estimated manpower
EST · AS OF 2025 · Confidence: Low · across all theatres; no reliable public count
Sahel · Libya · CAR
Area of influence
EST · AS OF 2025 · Confidence: Moderate · Ukraine role marginal since 2023
state contracts + resource concessions
Funding basis
EST · AS OF 2025 · Confidence: Moderate
Russian state (MoD/GRU)
External patron
EST · 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 — reviewed 2026-09

StatusPost-2023 structures subordinated to the Russian Ministry of Defence; "Africa Corps" branding for state-run successor operations
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

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.

Elsewhere in Ukraine–Russia

Economic profileAll Ukraine–Russia profiles
Confidence: LowBetween low and moderate; opaque structures graded conservatively.Leadership verified 2026-09-08Sources: US / EU / UK sanctions designations · Established international media reporting · ISW campaign assessments↗MethodologyCorrectionsOpen in Explore

Last reviewed2026-06

Related structure

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

Forces and formations

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

  • Wagner Group → Africa CorpsAfter the 2023 mutiny and the death of its founder, Wagner's structures were reorganised under Ministry of Defence control.

Named in these events

Dated events whose record names this actor.