Wagner leader appears at Russia-Africa summit hosted by Putin

Yevgeny Prigozhin was spotted in St. Petersburg on Thursday at a summit between African and Russian leaders, the first time the head of the Wagner Group mercenaries has been seen in Russia since leading a short-lived mutiny last month.

An image of Prigozhin shaking hands with a senior advisor to Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra was first posted to Facebook by a top Wagner operative.

The Wagner Group is active in the CAR, and local outlets reported hundreds of Wagner troops recently entered the country amid a political debate over whether Touadéra can run for another term in office.

Prigozhin has not been seen publicly in Russia since he left the country after a rebellion in late June. Wagner troops turned away from the frontlines in Ukraine and marched north toward Moscow, pledging to take down Russian military leadership.

Prigozhin later struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the march in exchange for having charges against him dropped. Some Wagner forces have relocated to Belarus, though Moscow has also invited them to join the military.

The Wagner leader’s presence at the Russia-Africa summit highlights Wagner’s ongoing influence on the continent. The group has been present in Africa and the Middle East for the better part of a decade, but the status of its troops is unknown amid the post-mutiny disarray.

A Wagner chat on Telegram took some credit for a coup in Niger earlier this week, though that claim has not been confirmed by independent news outlets. The State Department said Thursday that there is no evidence that Wagner was involved in the coup.

“Yevgeny Prigozhin continues to strengthen the position and influence of Russia and Wagner in Africa,” the Telegram post reads. “The coup in Niger is proof of this. Pro-French President Mohamed Bazum was overthrown.”

Prigozhin has also made statements in favor of the coup.

Earlier this week, the U.K. Parliament released a report criticizing the U.K.’s handling of Wagner, saying it waited too long to push back against its influence, especially in Africa. 

The St. Petersburg summit, hosted by Putin, is intended to bolster Russia’s influence on the continent. A total of 17 heads of state and representatives from 32 other African nations are in attendance, the Russian foreign minister said.

“Today, Africa is asserting itself more and more confidently as one of the poles of the emerging multipolar world,” Putin said in a statement this week. “The forum will provide a further boost to our political and humanitarian partnership for many years to come.”

Many African countries have either voted with Russia in United Nations votes on the Ukraine war, or abstained from voting.