Ukrainian offensive: Brigade Bear sends Russian mercenaries from Burkina Faso to the Kursk region

“War is our business”
Russia relocates mercenaries from Africa to the Kursk region

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The Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region has been going on for three weeks. In order to stabilize the situation, the Kremlin has now ordered members of the mercenary group Bear into the combat zone. The unit is promoting Moscow’s interests, especially in Burkina Faso.

In view of the Ukrainian advance in the Russian border region of Kursk, Russian mercenaries are apparently being relocated from Burkina Faso to their homeland. The commander of the paramilitary Bear Brigade, Viktor Yermolayev, confirmed a corresponding report in the French newspaper “Le Monde” to the AFP news agency. According to this, some of his fighters have been ordered to serve in Russia and have already left the West African country.

“We saw that (the Ukrainians) chose war,” Yermolayev explained. “War is our business (…). There is no greater honor for a Russian fighter than defending the homeland.” A few days earlier, the mercenary group’s Telegram channel had posted a message that “due to recent events, the brigade is returning to Crimea,” where it has its headquarters.

On August 6, the Ukrainian army unexpectedly advanced into the Russian border region of Kursk. Since then, according to Ukrainian sources, it has taken over around 100 towns in an area of ​​1,300 square kilometers.

“Don’t bring everything back to Russia”

According to estimates confirmed to AFP by Western security sources, around 100 of the 300 mercenaries of the Bear Brigade have left Burkina Faso. In the country, the mercenaries are primarily responsible for the security of the head of the ruling military junta, Ibrahim Traoré.

Yermolayev did not give further details about his brigade’s tasks, but confirmed the number of 300 men who would be deployed initially. “Some will stay, of course, we have bases and real estate, equipment and ammunition. We are not returning everything to Russia,” he explained.

According to experts, the Bear Brigade is a group of volunteers. They belong to the Russian Afrika Korps, which replaced the mercenaries of the Russian Wagner group in Africa. According to expert Jack Margolin from the US research institute FPRI, the Bear Brigade is “under the control of the Ministry of Defense” in Moscow and is affiliated with a military unit that supplied the Wagner group from 2014 onwards.

After the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in August 2023, the Wagner Group was disbanded and reorganized. Most operations in Africa are now coordinated by the Afrika Korps, and the Russian mercenaries work primarily as military trainers in several African conflict states.

In Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, military governments have come to power in a series of coups since 2020. Since taking power, they have increasingly distanced themselves from the West and turned towards Russia. Moscow is supporting the governments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, particularly militarily.

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