Leaked documents: Wagner works to create anti-Western "confederation" in Africa

Leaked secret US intelligence documents revealed that the Russian Wagner Group is working hard to create a confederation that includes anti-Western countries on the African continent, according to an exclusive report published by the Washington Post.

The newspaper said that the leaked documents indicate that Wagner's mercenaries are working to fuel conflicts in some African countries, using their military capabilities, and using the spread of false information to strengthen Moscow's allies on the continent.

It also points out that the rapid expansion of Russian influence on the continent has been a source of concern for US intelligence and military officials, prompting them to look for ways to strike Wagner's military base networks and economic fronts, using economic sanctions and military strikes.

But those U.S. media have done little damage to the Russian group over the past six years.

The documents also revealed that Wagner, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had gained a strategic foothold in at least 8 African countries, out of 13 in which it was active.

U.S. officials see Wagner's global expansion as a weakness, given its leader Prigozhin's preoccupation with the Kremlin's internal conflict over the paramilitary group's involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine.

One of the leaked documents lists some 12 practical options that could be adopted as part of a coordinated effort by the United States and its allies to curb Wagner's rise.

It also includes proposals for information that would help Ukrainian forces target and kill Wagner commanders, and signals that other U.S. allies are willing to take similar action against Wagner's base in Africa.

Despite those efforts, the documents contain no indication that the CIA, the Pentagon or the intelligence of U.S. allies have done much damage to the Russian group.

It also says that the only successful direct military strike mentioned in the leaked secret documents was "a successful attack in Libya that was not claimed by anyone, which led to the destruction of a Wagner logistics aircraft," and the documents did not give further details about the strike or why that plane was targeted.

The most significant U.S. targeting of Wagner mercenaries was in Syria near Deir Ezzor in February 2018, when the U.S. military launched raids that killed hundreds of Russian group fighters stationed in that area.