The Hudson Institute published on 4 July 2026 an analysis titled "The Kremlin's Long Game in Africa" by Joshua Meservey.
The analysis concludes that the Kremlin seeks to extract outsized benefits from Africa with the limited means it can deploy. The nature of this engagement will change only when there is meaningful political transformation in Russia.
The National Interest published on 11 March 2026 an article titled "Why African Leaders Are Beginning to Speak Out Against Russia" by Thomas Kent.
African leaders are increasingly speaking up about a pattern in which paid recruiters in Russia and Africa coax young men to come to Russia with promises of civilian jobs or training. Once they arrive, they are urged or forced to join the Russian Arny and are then sent to the frontlines in Ukraine.
Religion News Service posted on 17 February 2026 an article titled "Watchdogs Say Russian Church Helped Recruit Young Kenyans Who Have Fought in Ukraine" by Frederick Nzwili.
There are reports that the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) branch in Kenya played a role in a few cases recruiting Kenyans to go to Russia and who eventually ended up on the front line of the war against Ukraine. The ROC denies that it sent any Kenyans to Russia to fight in Ukraine.
Euromaidan Press, an on-line independent newspaper run by Ukrainian volunteers, published on 18 February 2026 a commentary titled "Why Ukraine Keeps Losing African Allies--And What Russia and China Built While No One Watched" by Peeter Helme.
Africa is the location of competition between Ukraine, on the one hand, and Russia and China, on the other. Ukraine is losing. Eight African countries now vote against Ukraine in the UN General Assembly (UNGA), up from one at the outbreak of Russia's attack against Ukraine in early 2022. Support for Ukraine collapsed from 28 African countries in 2022 to 10 during a UNGA vote in February 2025. Most are now non-committal.
The article attributes this loss of African support for Ukraine to a Russian disinformation campaign in Africa, an expanded scholarship program, Russian Orthodox Church outreach, and mercenary support in several countries. Russia's efforts in Africa are assisted by its ally, China, which has a massive economic engagement with the continent. China also has 53 embassies in Africa, Russia 40, and Ukraine only 18. The asymmetry in all categories of engagement is vast.
The article concludes that the ground shifted not because African countries support Russia's war, but because Moscow and Beijing built systems that reward distance from Kyiv.
The Foreign Policy Research Institute published on 15 October 2024 a commentary titled "Russia's Influence in Africa: The Role of the Russian Orthodox Church" by Charles A. Ray.
In December 2021, The Russian Orthodox Church established the patriarchate Exarchate of Africa with two dioceses: the South African Diocese with 24 countries under its jurisdiction and the North African Diocese with 31 countries. The Russian Orthodox Church reportedly opened more than 200 parishes between December 2021 and July 2023.
The Church's actions are aligned with Vladimir Putin's goal of expanding the Kremlin's influence in Africa. Kremlin-backed entities financially support the Church.
Foreign Policy published on 12 March 2024 an article titled "Russia Is Waging Spiritual War in Africa" by Elisabeth Braw.
The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church is wooing priests away from the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Egypt and elsewhere in Africa. The defections are designed to bolster Russian influence in Africa.
The South African Institute of International Affairs published on 28 March 2022 a study titled "Russia's Soft-power Sources in Africa" by Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti.
The author concluded that Russia's common cultural sources of soft power in the West do not seem particularly influential in Africa. Russia's political values, however, (multilateralism, anti-imperialism and non-interference) are particularly well received by policymakers in the Global South. Russia's allure in Africa is based on its image as a global player that can stand up to the West.
Comment: If anti-imperialism and non-interference are valued in the Global South, Russia's invasion of Ukraine would seem to undermine both values.
