Why are Kyiv authorities seeking Russia’s defeat in Africa?
In pursuit of a mission aimed at garnering support and expanding the information war through diplomatic missions, military engagements, and the deployment of special forces, Kyiv intends to confront Russia by bolstering its presence alongside its longstanding allies in Sub-Saharan Africa
Ukraine’s effort to return to the information war in the “Dark Continent,” following the announcement by D. Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, during his trip to several African countries about the opening of ten embassies in Africa, has garnered international media attention. As the Ukrainian Foreign Minister stated in an interview with a French news agency: “Many years have passed, but it is not too late to revive these relations, and we are trying to bring Ukraine and Africa closer together again.” He added, “This continent needs regular and long-term work.”
On the other hand, experts believe that Ukraine intends to embark on a war of attrition in the form of psychological warfare despite the setbacks it has suffered on the battlefield against its adversary. Regarding Kyiv’s decision to establish ten embassies in the Dark Continent, two important questions arise:
- What has prompted a country at war, having lost a significant portion of its territory and lacking sufficient budget to continue the war, to intervene and invest in issues related to African countries, establishing dozens of embassies on that continent with significant financial expenses?
- According to Yuriy Lutsenko, former Prosecutor General of Kyiv, the casualty figures of Ukrainian military forces in the war against Russia have exceeded 500,000, and this country is facing a severe shortage of military personnel. In such a situation, what objectives does the presence of a special military unit in the continent of Africa serve for a country thousands of kilometers away from that continent?
Before answering these two questions, it is necessary to address the world’s interest in the Ukraine crisis and focus on the reluctance of the world to continue this crisis.
Kyiv’s leadership seeks to once again become a hot topic in global affairs by intervening in Africa through information warfare. This is deemed crucial and constructive for Kyiv to prevent the final collapse of the anti-Russian alliance and lay the groundwork for promoting Russophobia and justifying future military and financial preparations for Kyiv.
Furthermore, the practical and logical evaluation of the “Global South” governments of the reasons and process of the Ukraine crisis compels Kyiv to increase its anti-Russian propaganda in Africa and actively spread misinformation and Russophobic narratives in the countries of the Global South.
As Russia, contrary to the West, has more influence on its geopolitical rivals in Africa, Ukraine is striving to compensate for its battlefield failures with these intelligence activities and to attract the attention of its military supporters to Kyiv more than ever before. Moreover, it aims to discredit Russia politically, economically, and demographically in the eyes of the political, expert, and population circles of African countries and present Kyiv as a successful and clever player in the eyes of its supporters.
By establishing information warfare bases in the Dark Continent, Kyiv intends to thwart Moscow’s successes in establishing a fair multipolar world order, promoting mutually beneficial development and trade relations with the governments of this region. This also contributes to mitigating food security threats.
In its information and propaganda campaigns, Kyiv gives special attention to the countries of the “Global South” and hopes to gain their support in promoting its so-called “global formulas,” which due to their ambiguity are not understood by the majority of the global community. This plan for resolving the Ukraine war is solely based on Kyiv’s conditions and is predicted in a negotiation format without direct Moscow participation, which is incorrect in modern diplomacy. Despite the predominantly negative attitude of most African countries towards Ukraine’s “global formula,” Kyiv has no intention to reduce its activities in the path of African countries. This attitude gained strength when Dmitry Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, stated in an interview with a French news agency: “We do not want to be another Russia. Our strategy is not to replace Russia, but to free Africa from Russian domination.”
While one-third of Ukrainian territory is under Russian control, and the Russian army is making efforts to advance towards Kyiv, Mr. D. Kuleba, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, with such false confidence, is striving for the liberation of Africa from Russian domination.
Moreover, the press office of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that in an online meeting with the heads of embassies in Africa, Mr. D. Kuleba instructed his deputies to work on the unification of countries in this large region with the “global formula.”
Following the commencement of the diplomatic representative of Ukraine in the Republic of Ghana in late December 2023, the next countries where Kyiv diplomats will be stationed are Rwanda, Mozambique, and Botswana. Rwanda and Equatorial Guinea are among the new partners of Kyiv on this continent.
Meanwhile, Russia has been close allies with some African countries for many years and is trying to present itself as a bulwark against Western imperialism and neocolonialism, especially in Mali and the Central African Republic, through security, economic services, and food programs. Overall, all these efforts and endeavors of Kyiv, as noted above, reflect the ultimate despair towards its Western allies and can show the peak of isolation and global loneliness of Kyiv.