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Interesting, considering this is one of the African nations involved in Ezekiel 38 Gog & Magog alliance,
Cush (or Ethiopia): This land, often translated as Ethiopia, is not the same as modern Ethiopia. It represented the land south of Egypt. Today, this nation is Sudan.
Moscow is striking a series of deals with the Sudanese Armed Forces while the Wagner Group continues to support the Rapid Support Forces
Russia is moving to develop and secure its strategic interests in Sudan, offering the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) weapons while continuing to help supply the SAF’s enemy, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, through the Wagner Group.
Analysts told Middle East Eye that Russia is acting to fill a power vacuum left by the US and to counter Ukraine’s military presence in Sudan - there are between 100 and 300 Ukrainian troops on the ground, operating mostly at night alongside the SAF.
At the same time, sources in the Central African Republic’s armed opposition told MEE that Wagner, the Russian military group, was still operating there, facilitating the supply of arms from the United Arab Emirates to the RSF. The sources said that they had captured Wagner fighters in CAR as recently as last week.
Russia has maintained relations with both the RSF and army since before Sudan’s war started on 15 April last year. Now over a year old, the war has left tens of thousands of people dead and displaced eight million more, becoming the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe.
In the weeks before it began, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Khartoum, where he held separate meetings with army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the former Janjaweed commander known as Hemeti.
Multiple sources have confirmed that Wagner operatives have been involved in the supply of weapons from the UAE to the RSF throughout the war, though Sudan’s army-aligned government has said publicly that this is no longer the case.
The Wagner Group has claimed that it is no longer operating inside Sudan, but a diplomatic source and eyewitnesses in Khartoum and Darfur have said that there are still Russian mercenaries there.
Speaking in Arabic in Port Sudan on 28 April, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was clear that it is the army-controlled Sovereignty Council of Sudan that truly represents the Sudanese people.
The Russian minister, who led a delegation that included military officers, met with Burhan in the Red Sea city, from where the army-controlled government is operating.
Hailing the “rich experience” Russia and Sudan had together in mining projects, Bogdanov said his visit could lead to increased cooperation and expressed support for “the existing legitimacy in the country represented by the Sovereignty Council”.
Malik Agar, vice president of the Sovereignty Council, hailed the “deep-rooted history and joint cooperation in various fields” between the two countries and “stressed the need to strengthen cooperation and joint coordination between Sudan and Russia in international platforms, especially the United Nations”.
Earlier in April, the sources said, Russia’s ambassador to Sudan, Andrey Chernovol, had approached Burhan offering to supply the SAF with weapons.
The Sudan Tribune reported that during the discussions between Bogdanov’s delegation and army-aligned officials, the Russians offered the SAF “unrestricted qualitative military aid”. This offer could “involve specialised expertise and, potentially, a Russian presence in Sudan”.
On 4 May, a Russian-registered transport plane landed in Port Sudan from Dubai.
The Abakan Air Ilyushin Il-76MD had made multiple trips from Dubai to Aktau in Kazakhstan in the days leading up to the Port Sudan flight, according to data from Flightradar 24.
At the beginning of April, Russia began exporting diesel to Sudan, with two fuel tankers, Pavo Rock and Conga, delivering a total of about 70,000 metric tonnes of diesel to Port Sudan on 2 April and 5 April, according to LSEG data.
Another oil tanker, the Marabella Sun, is currently at anchor in Port Sudan, according to the Marine Traffic website. Russia has been scrambling to find new markets for its refined products since a full EU embargo was imposed on it in February 2023.
Russian companies have longstanding interests in Sudan, particularly in gold mining, with western diplomats in Khartoum previously saying that the Wagner Group was working with the Dagalo family to ship gold out of Darfur.
Hemeti and his family own a gold mining company that operates on lands he seized in Darfur, in western Sudan, in 2017. He has talked openly about not being the “first man to own goldmines”, but they provide him and the RSF with a key source of power and wealth.
Speaking to Middle East Eye in April last year, a US official based in North Africa said that an estimated 32.7 tonnes of gold were smuggled out of Sudan on 16 charter flights with an estimated value of $1.9bn between February 2022 to February 2023.
The cargo was sometimes flown to a Russian controlled airbase in Syria and was always labelled as cookies, the official said. It was used by Moscow to help keep its economy afloat in the wake of its war in Ukraine.
Russia hopes to establish a naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coastline close to Port Sudan - in February 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference in Khartoum that an agreement for this to happen had been “signed earlier between the two countries and is only waiting to be legalised”.
More: Russia moves to play both sides in Sudan war
Cush (or Ethiopia): This land, often translated as Ethiopia, is not the same as modern Ethiopia. It represented the land south of Egypt. Today, this nation is Sudan.
Moscow is striking a series of deals with the Sudanese Armed Forces while the Wagner Group continues to support the Rapid Support Forces
Russia is moving to develop and secure its strategic interests in Sudan, offering the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) weapons while continuing to help supply the SAF’s enemy, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, through the Wagner Group.
Analysts told Middle East Eye that Russia is acting to fill a power vacuum left by the US and to counter Ukraine’s military presence in Sudan - there are between 100 and 300 Ukrainian troops on the ground, operating mostly at night alongside the SAF.
At the same time, sources in the Central African Republic’s armed opposition told MEE that Wagner, the Russian military group, was still operating there, facilitating the supply of arms from the United Arab Emirates to the RSF. The sources said that they had captured Wagner fighters in CAR as recently as last week.
Russia has maintained relations with both the RSF and army since before Sudan’s war started on 15 April last year. Now over a year old, the war has left tens of thousands of people dead and displaced eight million more, becoming the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe.
In the weeks before it began, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Khartoum, where he held separate meetings with army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the former Janjaweed commander known as Hemeti.
Multiple sources have confirmed that Wagner operatives have been involved in the supply of weapons from the UAE to the RSF throughout the war, though Sudan’s army-aligned government has said publicly that this is no longer the case.
The Wagner Group has claimed that it is no longer operating inside Sudan, but a diplomatic source and eyewitnesses in Khartoum and Darfur have said that there are still Russian mercenaries there.
Russian focus shifts
There are signs, though, that Russia is now focusing more on its relationship with Burhan and the army-aligned government.Speaking in Arabic in Port Sudan on 28 April, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was clear that it is the army-controlled Sovereignty Council of Sudan that truly represents the Sudanese people.
The Russian minister, who led a delegation that included military officers, met with Burhan in the Red Sea city, from where the army-controlled government is operating.
Hailing the “rich experience” Russia and Sudan had together in mining projects, Bogdanov said his visit could lead to increased cooperation and expressed support for “the existing legitimacy in the country represented by the Sovereignty Council”.
Malik Agar, vice president of the Sovereignty Council, hailed the “deep-rooted history and joint cooperation in various fields” between the two countries and “stressed the need to strengthen cooperation and joint coordination between Sudan and Russia in international platforms, especially the United Nations”.
Weapons, fuel and gold
Bogdanov’s visit did not come out of the blue. According to two army-aligned officials who spoke to Middle East Eye on the condition of anonymity, Sudanese intelligence chief Ahmed Mufaddal was in Russia meeting with his counterparts a week before Bogdanov, who is also Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special representative for the Middle East and Africa, arrived in Sudan.Earlier in April, the sources said, Russia’s ambassador to Sudan, Andrey Chernovol, had approached Burhan offering to supply the SAF with weapons.
The Sudan Tribune reported that during the discussions between Bogdanov’s delegation and army-aligned officials, the Russians offered the SAF “unrestricted qualitative military aid”. This offer could “involve specialised expertise and, potentially, a Russian presence in Sudan”.
On 4 May, a Russian-registered transport plane landed in Port Sudan from Dubai.
The Abakan Air Ilyushin Il-76MD had made multiple trips from Dubai to Aktau in Kazakhstan in the days leading up to the Port Sudan flight, according to data from Flightradar 24.
At the beginning of April, Russia began exporting diesel to Sudan, with two fuel tankers, Pavo Rock and Conga, delivering a total of about 70,000 metric tonnes of diesel to Port Sudan on 2 April and 5 April, according to LSEG data.
Another oil tanker, the Marabella Sun, is currently at anchor in Port Sudan, according to the Marine Traffic website. Russia has been scrambling to find new markets for its refined products since a full EU embargo was imposed on it in February 2023.
Russian companies have longstanding interests in Sudan, particularly in gold mining, with western diplomats in Khartoum previously saying that the Wagner Group was working with the Dagalo family to ship gold out of Darfur.
Hemeti and his family own a gold mining company that operates on lands he seized in Darfur, in western Sudan, in 2017. He has talked openly about not being the “first man to own goldmines”, but they provide him and the RSF with a key source of power and wealth.
Speaking to Middle East Eye in April last year, a US official based in North Africa said that an estimated 32.7 tonnes of gold were smuggled out of Sudan on 16 charter flights with an estimated value of $1.9bn between February 2022 to February 2023.
The cargo was sometimes flown to a Russian controlled airbase in Syria and was always labelled as cookies, the official said. It was used by Moscow to help keep its economy afloat in the wake of its war in Ukraine.
Red Sea base
In Port Sudan, according to the two-army aligned sources, the Russian delegation also discussed Ukraine’s military presence in Sudan and the prospect of a Russian naval base on the Red Sea coast, which was first agreed upon during the days of autocrat Omar al-Bashir.Russia hopes to establish a naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coastline close to Port Sudan - in February 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference in Khartoum that an agreement for this to happen had been “signed earlier between the two countries and is only waiting to be legalised”.
More: Russia moves to play both sides in Sudan war
