P1 - The Wagner Group in Sudan

<p>Part 1: “Who are these guys and what are they doing here?”</p><p>In late February 2022, Airport workers in Khartoum International Airport in Sudan&nbsp;are&nbsp;stood glued to television screens, watching Russian tanks entering the outskirts of Kyiv in Ukraine.&nbsp;But just outside on the runway,&nbsp;a Russian cargo plane laden with cookies was about to take off, heading to Latakia on the coast of Syria.</p><p>Earlier that day, officials had inspected the aircraft, suspicious of the cargo manifest. It turned out they were right to be suspicious, because hidden under the cookies was gold. A ton of gold. But the military arrived and the plane was waived through.</p><p>Gold&nbsp;is&nbsp;Sudan’s largest export, although 80% of that is thought to be smuggled out of the country. The industry has a number of players,&nbsp;including&nbsp;the Rapid Support Forces&nbsp;who are&nbsp;currently locked in battle with its rival the Sudanese Armed Forces .&nbsp;But there is also another active group&nbsp;that works alongside both these two forces and has its eyes firmly on Sudanese gold - the Wagner Group.</p><p><strong>Speaker(s):</strong></p><p>Kholood Khair - the Founder and Director of Confluence Advisory, Khartoum.</p><p>Ken Opala, the Field Network Coordinator for East and Southern Africa, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.</p><p>Mohanad&nbsp;Hashim, freelance Sudanese journalist, currently working at the BBC.</p><p>Justin Lynch, researcher, and author of <em>Sudan’s Unfinished Democracy</em>.</p><p>Additional Reading:</p><p><a href="https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/russia-in-africa/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(GI Paper)The grey zone: Russia's military, mercenary and criminal engagement in Africa</a></p><p><a href="https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/russia-sanctions-illicit-gold-trade/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(GI Paper) Going for Gold: Russia, sanctions and illicit gold trade</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufOVEKwY2sw" rel="noopener n