A new video has surfaced online showing Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in what is reported to be his first filmed message since his aborted mutiny against Russia’s military leadership in June. The footage appears to have been filmed somewhere in Africa and was posted on pro-Wagner Telegram channels along with a phone number for aspiring mercenaries to contact. It’s unclear when the video was shot—but it is likely to fuel Western fears that Wagner is poised to broaden its operations in Africa in the wake of a coup in Niger. “The Wagner PMC (private military company) makes Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa—more free,” Prigozhin says in the video. “Justice and happiness—for the African people, we’re making life a nightmare for ISIS and al Qaeda and other bandits.” He goes on to say that Wagner is recruiting and the organization “will fulfill the tasks that were set.”
