In Chad, three Russian influencers arrested at N’Djamena airport

The Russian and Chadian flags flutter side by side in front of the new “Russian House” in N’Djamena. On Saturday, September 21, guests of the cultural center chat around the buffet while speakers play a Tchaikovsky tune. But one guest is missing. Two days earlier, Maksim Shugaley, director of the Foundation for the Defense of National Values ​​(FDVN) and spearhead of Russian influence operations in Africa, was arrested along with three of his colleagues at N’Djamena airport. He has since been detained at an unknown location for equally unknown reasons.

Sanctioned by the United States and Europe for having carried out disinformation operations for the benefit of the Wagner Group, Maksim Shugaley, who presents himself as a sociologist, was loyal to the founder of the paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash in August 2023, two months after his failed rebellion against the Kremlin. In a press release published on Monday, Russian diplomacy said that there had been “He took the necessary measures” to obtain their release ” fast “ contacting the Chadian authorities.

In N’Djamena, the Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs, Fatimé Aldjineh Garfa, tells World not having been “Officially in charge of the matter” and not have “There is no information on this topic,” But someone close to the case says that “Instructions have been given that Maksim Shugaley and his colleagues will be handed over to the Russian authorities soon.” Another government source confirmed, on condition of anonymity, the arrest of the four men. “for state services”, without further details.

Reconciliation

This formulation seems to point to the responsibility of the National State Security Agency (ANSE), the country’s feared secret services, which are answerable only to the presidency. In 2019, Maksim Shugaley had already been arrested for “attempted electoral interference” in Libya and was only released a year and a half later, at the end of a media campaign in which Yevgeny Prigozhin personally participated. But this new arrest surprises those close to him in several ways.

First of all, the Russian “sociologist” was in Chad twice this year without any concern. In particular, he met with supporters of presidential candidate Mahamat Idriss Déby before the presidential elections in May. He then declared World that “The country’s authorities were kind enough to [lui] give the opportunity to satisfy [son] scientific interest ».

The incident comes at a time when Russia and Chad are in the midst of a rapprochement. Mahamat Idriss Déby travelled to Moscow in January, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to N’Djamena six months later. Surrounded by countries supported directly or indirectly by the Kremlin, Chad is an exception in the Sahel, maintaining alliances with Western countries, including France, with which relations have however become more relaxed since the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation against Déby on suspicion of “ill-gotten gains”.

Taking advantage of their ties with each other, the Chadian authorities are threatening to approach Russia as a way of putting pressure on their Western allies, while judiciously diversifying their military partnerships (the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Hungary, etc.) and emancipating themselves from the bosom of France, which still has a base in N’Djamena.

Take control

Finally, the Russian state is taking control of the Wagner Group’s activities, both at the military level, with the “Africa Corps” system., as well as at the level of civil activities, under the banner of the “African Initiative” – two entities directly linked to Russian military intelligence and secret services.

In their report entitled “Africa Corps, a new version of an old Russian military presence”, Filip Bryjka and Jedrzej Czerep of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) argue that Russian foreign intelligence “supervising Russian cultural institutions” The deployment of a network of Russian Houses on the continent is an integral part of this project. Responsible for disseminating the Kremlin’s official discourse in Africa and providing language and civilisation courses, they are coordinated by Rossotroudnitchestvo, the Russian federal cooperation agency, which is subject to European sanctions by Brussels, which considers it a tool of influence.

Two representatives of Rossotrudnitchestvo were present in N’Djamena at the opening of the Russian House at the time of Maksim Shugaley’s arrest. Will the latter pay the price for this acquisition? In recent months, he has continued to predict the failure of the new architecture of the Russian presence in Africa and to reaffirm his loyalty to the late Yevgeny Prigokhine. On his Telegram channel, the latest message, posted on August 23, the anniversary of the death of the former Wagner boss, is a tribute to the man he describes as “hero”.