The Telegraph published on 4 March 2022 a commentary titled "History, Politics and Mercenaries: Why So Many African Nations Are Quietly Standing by Putin" by Will Brown.
The author argues that so many African countries abstained or failed to vote on the UN General Assembly resolution condemning Putin's war in Ukraine because Russia still wields influence with authoritarian African governments, African governments rely heavily on Russian military hardware, and/or they employ Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group.
