Africa and the Western world watched as Sudan burnt for years rendering it a lip service. After the two warring sides had exhausted their willpower to fight they sought for Russian help to end their civil war. As usual, when it comes to Africa, Russia did not disappoint. Technically speaking, after Russia stepped its feet into the Sudanese conflict, the appetite of the antagonists to keep on fighting subsided. Every side in the Sudanese civil war wishes they had contacted Russia much earlier, and a lot of bloodshed and property destruction would have been spared. This article reviews the trade-offs between Russia and Sudan that brought this civil war to an abrupt closure.
First, it was RSF – Rapid Support Force, led by Gagalo that had the momentum that led to the ouster of the government from Khartoum to its outskirts. Then seeing their war fortunes were dwindling, the Sudanese government liaised with Iran where they acquired Shahed drones that restored their momentum. Today RSF is still controlling central Khartoum but has seen defections and lost morale. Their leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo also known as Hemedti disappeared from the public scene for obscure reasons. The grapevine suggests he was mortally wounded while others allege he is recuperating from an operation he underwent recently.
Whatever the reason behind his disappearance is, without Dagalo running the RSF outfit the organization is wobbling despite his own brother attempting to fill his large boots. If the war continues at this pace, the Sudanese government may recapture the State House in a matter of three to six weeks from now. However, that is where Russia comes in. If the RSF loses the State House in Khartoum, they will retreat back to Darfur where Sudanese blacks will face extermination, land confiscations, and further displacement. If that is not enough, the RSF will still engage in more of a guerrilla war that will destabilize Sudan, and peace will continue to be elusive.
One has to remember, that so far, human rights groups have accused the Sudanese army and allied militias of extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, and physical and psychological torture, particularly targeting communities suspected of RSF ties. The Sudanese army and RSF have been fighting a war since mid-April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. The US has accused the RSF of genocide in Darfur. The US accusations are a double-edged sword. On one hand, the US supports Israel in her genocide and ethnic cleansing committed in Gaza against innocent Palestinians but condemns RSF for the same atrocities. The US’s adverse designation of the RSF is prompted by the RSF receiving help from the Russian mercenaries, The mercenaries are reported mining gold in Sudan in exchange for weapons.
The mining industry of Sudan is mostly driven by the extraction of fuel minerals and gold. Prior to becoming independent in 2011 as South Sudan, petroleum extraction in the autonomous region of Southern Sudan accounted for a substantial contribution to the country’s economy. Following South Sudan’s independence, growth in the gold mining industry saw substantial traction. By 2022, Sudan would emerge as the third-largest producer of gold in Africa.
In addition to gold, iron ore, and base metals are mined in the Hassai Gold Mine and elsewhere. Chromite is another important mineral extracted from the Ingessana Hills. Other minerals extracted are gypsum, salt, and cement. Phosphate is found in Mount Kuon and Mount Lauro in eastern Nuba. Reserves of zinc, lead, aluminum, cobalt, and nickel in the form of block sulfides and uranium are also established. Large reserves of iron ore have been established. Several companies and entities mine gold in Sudan, including Perseus Mining, Zarubezhgeologiya, and the Sudan Gold Refinery Company.
Russian mercenaries, particularly those associated with the Wagner Group, have been reported to be involved in mining gold in Sudan. The Wagner Group, a private military company with close ties to the Russian government, has been accused of exploiting natural resources in various African countries, including Sudan, to fund their operations and benefit the Russian state.
In Sudan, the group has allegedly been involved in gold mining operations, which are a significant source of revenue for the country. Reports suggest that Wagner mercenaries have provided security and logistical support to Sudanese mining operations, often in exchange for access to gold and other resources. This involvement has raised concerns about the exploitation of Sudan’s natural resources and the potential for these activities to fuel conflict and instability in the region.
The Sudanese government before the civil war has faced criticism for its ties to the Wagner Group, with accusations that these relationships undermine the country’s sovereignty and contribute to human rights abuses. Additionally, the presence of foreign mercenaries in Sudan’s mining sector has complicated efforts to achieve transparency and accountability in the management of the country’s natural resources. These activities are part of a broader pattern of Russian influence in Africa, where the Wagner Group and other Russian entities have sought to expand their presence in resource-rich countries, often through opaque and controversial means.
After battles broke out in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), questions arose over the involvement of the Wagner Group, a powerful Russian mercenary organization that has been active in Sudan for years. The Russian mercenary group Wagner has been supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces with missiles to aid their fight against the country’s army. Wagner group allegedly provided the surface-to-air missiles to significantly buttress RSF paramilitary fighters and their leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as he battled for power with Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s military ruler and the head of its armed forces.
The Sudanese government has accused the UAE of arming the RSF. The UAE has always denied the charges. The Sudanese government claimed it had documentary evidence of the UAE involvement in the civil war. Later the Sudanese government cancelled the port lease agreement with the UAE due to those allegations.
Therefore ending the Sudanese civil war is good news for all. It may stop genocide against Sudanese blacks, kidnappings, tortures, and extrajudicial murders for all. It will revert Sudan to the path of national building, healing, and restoration of order and commonsense which are lacking at the moment. The big loser will be the UAE which had been allegedly arming RSF in the hope that if it wins power her quest of winning a port lease agreement will go through. The AU is another loser because it ignored the civil war, and did nothing tangible to bring the civil war to a halt. Iran will be very influential after offering the kamikaze shahed drones that devastated the RSF. Russia too are big movers for bringing the two warring sides under one table to resolve their power struggles which in many ways reflects what is going on in the DRC: control and distribution of natural resources between the center and the peripheries.
Russia will get a military base in Sudan that will definitely anger the USA and her Western allies. The Western media has been celebrating the demise of Russian international clout due to the Ukrainian conflict but the opposite is happening. In fact, the Ukrainian conflict has led to a rebirth of Russian resilience, renaissance, and global insights. A nation that is constantly waving the storms of destabilization and bullying is in a better position to empathize with other nations that face similar circumstances. And, this is what happened in the particular matter of Sudan. The world watched but did nothing tangible apart from reporting and agonizing the horrors of a civil war. But when Russia stepped in both sides of the conflict felt a fair judge was among them.
Each side of the conflict trusted this international arbitrator: the Russians. RSF and the Sudanese government will have to thrash out a new constitutional order that will have power and natural resources sharing clauses between Khartoum and her peripheries. The DRC will do well to grab this opportunity to learn how to engage in meaningful conversations of trust, conflict resolution, and national building. The DRC government will do well to call upon Russia to provide global leadership in their own conflagration. African institutions are too weak to provide this kind of leadership. African institutions hobbled and blinded by official graft, dictatorial tendencies, massive looting of national resources and political violence will never come up with workable solutions beyond knuckling up their fists inflicting more deaths and disabilities.
The Darfur genocide will not be addressed by this conflict resolution simply because the victims will not be part of it. However, Arab Sudan will do well to remember that it was the killings of black Sudanese that provoked this civil war so that the word of God may be fulfilled:
“Whoever lives by the sword will be consumed by the sword.”
Russia was with Africa during our fight for independence. Russia was on the right side of history. Russia understood our plight then and it is now willing to help Africa to stand with her own feet on the global stage. The problem is our corrupt African leaders who are afraid to anger Uncle Sam lest he foment a fictitious coup d’etat and get rid of their regimes. That is what is withholding Africa from taking huge strides in global standing.
Read More article By Rutashubanyuma Nestory
