In September 2023, an unexpected meeting occurred in an unusual place.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a stopover at Ireland’s Shannon Airport on his flight back from the UN General Assembly session in New York, he was greeted by Sudanese leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan.
The two leaders discussed international security issues and “threats from illegal groups financed by Russia.”
According to Zelensky’s office, the high-level meeting at an airport often used to refuel transatlantic flights was not scheduled.
However, as is clear, Ukrainian special forces played a key role in bringing it about.
At the time, Sudan was paralyzed by clashes between the regular army and a paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The clashes are the direct result of a fierce struggle for power within the country’s military leadership: on the one hand, the General Abdel Fattah al Burhanhead of the armed forces and president of the country, and on the other his former deputy and leader of the RSF, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.
Thousands of people have died in the conflict, millions have had to leave their homes or flee to other countries and the country’s economy has suffered a severe blow.
Information about how and why Ukraine apparently supported the Sudanese government during these clashes has recently begun to emerge.
According to “The Wall Street Journal” (WSJ), Ukrainian soldiers helped General Al Burhan flee the capital, Khartoum, in August 2023, when his headquarters was surrounded by the RSF.
About a hundred agents of the Ukrainian special forces, led by a intelligence officer known as “Timur”arrived in Sudan after a phone call between al Burhan and Zelensky, the newspaper reported.
According to the WSJ, the Ukrainian unit not only helped evacuate Al Burhan, but also changed the nature of the war in Sudan by supplying remote viewing (FPV) drones and conducting night raids against the RSF.
Speaking to the BBC, Ukrainian intelligence neither confirmed nor denied reports of Kyiv’s involvement in Sudanstating that “it carries out its activities in various geographical regions where it is necessary to protect Ukrainian national interests.”
What is the Wagner Group doing in Sudan?
In February, a video emerged showing alleged Ukrainian agents in Sudan inspecting a bombed military vehicle with the body of a dead Russian soldier inside.
The vehicle had the insignia of the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
In another segment of the video, Ukrainian soldiers are seen interrogating captured Russian soldiers.
“What is your goal here?” asks a Ukrainian officer.
“Overthrow the local government,” the soldier responds.
It is not immediately clear when or where in Sudan the video was taken, and the BBC cannot independently verify it.
The Russian Wagner group was already present in Sudan long before fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
The first videos of Wagner’s mercenaries in Sudan date back to at least 2017.
At that time it was reported that Russian mercenaries were training Sudanese soldiers and who were also allegedly helping local security forces repress protests.
After the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in August 2023, the Wagner units operating in Africa, including those in Sudan, came under the control of the Russian special services.
Now Wagner mercenaries supporting the RSF appear to be the main target of the Ukrainians in Sudan, according to BBC Monitoring analyst Beverley Ochieng.
“According to the information that has emerged about what the Ukrainian units are doing [en Sudán], These seem more focused on targeting Russia than on supporting the Sudanese army in the fight against the RSF.”, he claimed.
The Wagner Group has been repeatedly accused by Ukrainian authorities of perpetrating war crimes.
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, hinted that some of the mercenaries stationed in Sudan could have been involved in the war in Ukraine.
“All Russian war criminals who fought, fight or will fight against Ukraine will be punished anywhere in the world,” he said.
Ukraine is also trying to cut off funding for Russian mercenaries in Sudanaccording to Murad Batal Shishani of Remarks on Political Violence, a London-based think tank.
“Hemedti has been Russia’s greatest ally in Africa, mainly the Wagner group. “He controls gold, Wagner’s main source of financing,” he said.
In 2022, a CNN report alleged that there was Russian involvement in gold mining and trading in Sudan, and claimed that the Russians had sent 16 flights loaded with gold from Sudan to Syria.
Plans to attack the Russian gold business in Sudan were confirmed to the “WSJ” by a Ukrainian military intelligence source.
Hemedti’s defeat and Ukraine’s strengthening relations with Sudan may also hamper Russian plans to create a military base in Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”
Some analysts say that what is happening now in Sudan is a “typical subsidiary war” (either proxy war, according to the English terminology), a conflict in which third States participate, each of which pursues its own interests.
“Hemedti has the support of the United Arab Emirates and Russia, and Al Burhan is slowly winning the war with the support of Saudi financing and Ukrainian forces,” said Glen Howard, former director of the Jamestown Foundation, a research group. based in Washington.
Ukraine is also trying to build an image of a state capable of threatening Russian positions anywhere.according to Nicholas A. Heras of the Washington-based New Lines Institute.
“The agreement between Zelensky and Al Burhan is an agreement of the type ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’” he said.
“For Ukraine, it is a way to demonstrate to the international community that Zelensky will confront Putin at any time and anywhere, not only in Europe.“he assured.
However, Ukrainian capabilities in Sudan are so far limited due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, and Kyiv can only supply its African ally with small special forces units.
By contrast, Russia’s presence in Sudan remains much more tangible.
“Russia has increased expeditionary capabilities in Sudan through the Wagner group, with battalions of fighters supported by artillery, surface-to-surface missile systems and providing logistical supply to the Rapid Support Forces,” Heras warned.
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