Russia paid African media network to spread anti-Western propaganda, leaked files show

By Ben Farmer

Russia spent millions of dollars paying influencers and placing propaganda in news outlets to spread disinformation across Africa, according to leaked documents.

A network of 35 websites and media organisations published more than 700 articles after receiving Russian funding in 2024 alone, as part of a continent-wide disinformation scheme.

Articles were commissioned for between $250 and $700 each and covered subjects ranging from alleged French “neo-colonialism” to claims that a World Health Organization-backed malaria vaccination programme was using African children as guinea pigs.

Others promoted Moscow’s position on the Ukraine war or amplified anti-Western conspiracy theories.

Details of the campaign were disclosed in a cache of 75 Russian memos obtained by a collective of investigative journalism outlets across the continent.

The documents, from the Wagner mercenary group and its successor organisation known as “The Company”, include itemised listings of payments made for individual articles.

The cache, analysed by outlets including Africa Confidential, Forbidden Stories, The Continent, All Eyes On Wagner and France 24, offers a glimpse into what diplomats describe as an ambitious and determined Russian propaganda push across Africa.

Russia has also been accused of using bot farms and carefully selected influencers to flood social media with anti-Western narratives and conspiracy theories, strengthening its position as it seeks diplomatic influence and access to mineral resources across the continent.

“The global wave of anti-Americanism and anti-Western sentiment is very much present on this continent,” Ukraine’s ambassador to South Africa, Olexander Scherba, told The Telegraph earlier this year.

“It’s part of reality, and Russia is exploiting this sentiment, which blames the West and somehow tends to see Russia as innocent no matter what happens.”

The information campaign has been particularly intense in the Sahel, where military juntas in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have turned against France and the United Nations and instead sought support from Moscow.

The documents include claims of success in influence campaigns targeting Western mining firms in Mali.

“A broad information campaign was conducted in the media and social networks to discredit foreign companies that own mines and quarries,” one memo said.

“Rallies and public marches were organised in support of the nationalisation of resource extraction enterprises.”

Analysts told Africa Confidential that the documents appeared to exaggerate the impact these campaigns had on Malian government policy.

The disclosures echo a similar leak earlier this year showing that social media influencers were being paid between $200 and $300 per post to promote pro-Russian narratives.

Russia’s online offensive has increasingly contrasted with its mercenaries’ real-world struggles to provide security for military juntas in the Sahel.

Mali’s military regime was thrown into crisis this week after coordinated attacks by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and Tuareg separatists killed the defence minister and captured the desert town of Kidal.

Hundreds of African Corps mercenaries were forced to withdraw from Kidal at the weekend under an agreement negotiated with Tuareg forces.

Analysts said both the withdrawal and the scale of the attacks represented a humiliation for Russia after it had promised to provide security where France and the UN had failed.