Videos emerge of Ukrainian special forces likely hunting Wagnerites in Sudan

Monday, 6 November 2023, 17:41

On 6 November, the Kyiv Post published two videos in which alleged Ukrainian special forces are believed to be hunting down Wagner Group mercenaries in Sudan, although the Ukrainian government has not officially recognised either the deployment of combat units in Sudan or the conduct of operations against Wagnerites in that country.

Source: Kyiv Post

Quote: "According to the Kyiv Post's source in the security and defence sector of Ukraine, an operation is currently underway in this African country to 'move out Wagner Group', their local terrorists and employees of the Russian special services."

Details: In a conversation with the publication, the source added: "The footage shows the work of, probably, special units of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine’s Defence Ministry."

It is claimed that the publication's source refused to provide details of the operation for security reasons.

In the first black-and-white video, which appears to have been shot at night by an infrared drone, fighters surround a building and targets inside are highlighted on the video. In another sequence, an attacker uses a hand-held grenade launcher to shoot through a window of a building. Next, several explosions, in footage taken with a regular camera, can be seen.

The second video was shot during the day, also from a drone. Ukrainian special forces are not visible on it, but several men who look like the targets are running on the streets of a densely populated city or town.

Background:

  • Before that, the CNN channel reported, with reference to a source in the Ukrainian military, that Ukraine's intelligence services may be behind a series of drone strikes and a ground operation against Wagner-backed rebels near Sudan's capital. A Ukrainian military source characterised it as the work of a "non-Sudanese military":  the pattern of drones swooping directly into their target were highly unusual in Sudan and the wider African region.
  • On 24 September, Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), commented on CNN's reports about the alleged involvement of the Ukrainian special services in drone attacks in Sudan, neither confirming nor denying it. However, Budanov emphasised that Wagner Group units had taken part in both the organisation of the coup in Sudan and the coup itself: "These are our enemies, and we will take action in any part of the world."

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