Wagner’s mercenaries, known as Putin’s “chef” Prigozhin, were sent to Sudan during a conflict against South Sudan to support the government of then Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir “militarily and to create favorable conditions for the Russian companies”. Mercenaries also protect gold, uranium and diamond mines in countries in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a good relationship with dictator al-Bashir. The two leaders met in Moscow in late 2017, where al-Bashir asked Putin for US protection and promised the Russians a naval base in the Red Sea, an area of high military and commercial importance. The passage of ships from the Red Sea to the Suez Canal is very long.
Smuggling gold with the Russians
Sudan’s military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and chairman of the Transitional Independence Council that took over the country after the overthrow of dictator Bashir in June 2021 issued an order blocking the search of a Russian military plane suspected of smuggling gold.
Sudanese officials, who were part of a since-disbanded anti-corruption force, suspected at the time that the plane was one of the Russian military aircraft involved in smuggling gold directly from Sudan to Moscow. The revelation comes as details emerge of Wagner’s mercenaries’ involvement in gold mining across Sudan and its neighboring countries. In Sudan, bank and other records show that the Russian mercenary network has secured lucrative Sudanese mining concessions that produce a steady flow of gold.
Τhe Americans believe the concessions will boost Moscow’s $130 billion gold reserves, helping President Vladimir Putin’s government offset the effects of economic sanctions imposed over the Ukraine war. Most Sudanese gold goes through the United Arab Emirates. Unofficial figures from the UAE said more than $1.7 billion of Sudanese gold “landed” in Dubai last year, representing just under half the value of all Sudanese exports.
Wagner’s company ‘stealing’ Sudan’s gold
Within weeks of the November 2017 meeting, Russian geologists and mineralogists employed by Meroe Gold arrived in Sudan.
The US Treasury Department says Meroe Gold is controlled by Prigozhin, although as with his alleged ties to Wagner, the Russian businessman has denied the claim, saying he has “nothing to do with the company.” The US Treasury Department in 2020 imposed sanctions on the company, as well as other companies it estimates to be owned by Prigozhin.
This was followed by EU sanctions in December 2021 on Wagner’s mercenaries. In the 18 months following the arrival of the Russian geologists, Meroe Gold imported 131 cargoes into Sudan, citing Russian customs records. The cargo included mining and construction equipment, as well as military trucks, amphibious vehicles, two transport helicopters and a 1956 Cadillac.
Prigozhin’s plane then arrived in Khartoum carrying a delegation of Russian military officials, before returning to Moscow with senior Sudanese officials, according to flight details obtained by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
The gold-hunting warlord of Sudan
One of those Sudanese officials was the brother of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, which emerged from Darfur’s dreaded Janjaweed militias, which are blamed for a spate of killings and massacres of civilians.
Dagalo, popularly known as Hemedti, is a key player in Sudan’s gold mining operations. About 70 percent of Sudan’s gold production – which has grown rapidly since South Sudan gained independence in 2011, taking with it its oil wealth – is smuggled out of the country, with Hemeti and his family benefit from much of it.
The RSF seized control of the Jebel Amer gold mine in Darfur in 2017, instantly making Dagalo, known as Hemedti, one of Sudan’s richest men. RSF and Hemedti also control at least three other gold mines in other parts of the country, including South Kordofan, making them a key player in an industry that produces Sudan’s biggest export.
Al Gunade is a gold mining and trading company with deep ties to Hemedti and RSF. Hemedti’s brother Abdul Rahim Dagalo and his sons are the three owners of Al Gunade, while RSF deputy commander Abdul Rahman al-Bakri is the general manager.
The RSF leader then became Burhan’s deputy in the country’s National Council which was formed to lead the country to elections. The two militaries are permanently at odds and have different sources of power. And now Hemeti’s paramilitaries clash with Burhan’s National Army.
Dagalo, popularly known as Hemedti, is a key player in Sudan’s gold mining operations. About 70 percent of Sudan’s gold production – which has grown rapidly since South Sudan gained independence in 2011, taking with it its oil wealth – is smuggled out of the country, with Hemeti and his family benefit from much of it.
The RSF seized control of the Jebel Amer gold mine in Darfur in 2017, instantly making Dagalo, known as Hemedti, one of Sudan’s richest men. RSF and Hemedti also control at least three other gold mines in other parts of the country, including South Kordofan, making them a key player in an industry that produces Sudan’s biggest export.
Al Gunade is a gold mining and trading company with deep ties to Hemedti and RSF. Hemedti’s brother Abdul Rahim Dagalo and his sons are the three owners of Al Gunade, while RSF deputy commander Abdul Rahman al-Bakri is the general manager.
The RSF leader then became Burhan’s deputy in the country’s National Council which was formed to lead the country to elections. The two militaries are permanently at odds and have different sources of power. And now Hemeti’s paramilitaries clash with Burhan’s National Army.
Wagner’s relations with Hemet
Wagner Group mercenaries, according to diplomatic sources, have fought alongside the RSF, helping them continue to suppress the revolutionary pro-democracy movement in Sudan.
In February, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Hemeti was in Moscow for a week-long visit, where he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Alexander Fomin, Moscow’s deputy defense minister.
On June 5, 2019, two days after the RSF-led Khartoum massacre that left at least 128 protesters dead, Meroe Gold imported 13 tons of MAT shields, as well as helmets and globes, to a company controlled by family of Hemet.
Middle East Eye published accounts from the Central African Republic (CAR), where eyewitnesses said Russian fighters belonging to the Wagner group went on a massacre in March, killing gold miners from Sudan and other neighboring countries.
