
A few months ago, Ukrainian hacktivists of the Cyber Resistance team gained access to the databases and classified documents of the Russia–Africa International Economic Summit which is scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg from July 27 to 28, 2023. After all the initial data processing, the retrieved information was also transferred to the intelligence structures of Ukraine and partner countries. A joint decision was made to make part of the information public on the eve of the summit so that it could also be used by other stakeholders, such as intelligence agencies and diplomats of other states. This publication is also the last chance for some foreign guests who still plan to attend this dubious event to make the right decision and cancel their visit citing the leak of classified data. Today, InformNapalm volunteer intelligence community exclusively publishes some of the information from the classified documents, correspondence and databases of the planned summit. This is only a part of the data that could be made public.
Foreword
It is worth noting that the previous Russia–Africa summit was held in Sochi on October 23-24, 2019. It brought together more than 6,000 guests, including more than 1,100 foreign business representatives and about 1,900 members of foreign official delegations. The event was attended by officials from 54 African countries, 45 of which were represented by heads of state and government. The summit went under the slogan “For Peace, Security and Development“, even though Russia was already under sanctions for its occupation of Crimea and for waging a hybrid war in the east of Ukraine. But back then, the International Criminal Court had not yet issued an arrest warrant for the Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, including the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories. Therefore, African leaders were still happy to take pictures with him.
Russia–Africa 2023
After the success of Russia–Africa 2019 summit, the Russians began preparations for the new summit right away. The preparations entered an active phase a few months before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reaching the final stages only in 2022. A year ago, on July 21, 2022, Putin signed a decree on preparations for the second Russia–Africa summit (PDF). Thus, Putin personally controls the preparations for the summit, as it is a significant image event for him, especially following the wave of sanctions for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Against this backdrop, Russian diplomats prepared a briefing paper for the political leadership on the second United States–Africa Leaders Summit 2022, which took place on December 13-15 in Washington (PDF). The document is quite interesting, as it shows that the U.S. invests in education, healthcare, cybersecurity, energy independence, and other vital areas for the development of African countries.
Instead, Russia views Africa as a natural resources colony. In this context, it is worth mentioning the long-term efforts of Wagner PMC mercenaries and Russian military intelligence on the African continent to cooperate with dictators who gladly play along in enriching Russian elites.
In one of the previous OSINT/CYBINT studies code-titled BagdasarovLeaks, InformNapalm volunteers have already drawn attention to the private correspondence of ex-member of the Russian parliament Semyon Bagdasarov. The exchange mentions the Russians’ activities in tin, tantalum and tungsten mining projects in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, resale of gold, construction of an oil storage facility and fuel trade in Uganda.
Documents and lists
Let’s move on to the classified documentation on the preparations to the upcoming summit.
On November 14, 2022, Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma, wrote an appeal to Putin for a permission (PDF) to organize a Russia–Africa parliamentary conference in March 2023, which was supposed to precede the planned summit. Putin wrote on the document: “I agree.”
A meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the Russia–Africa 2023 Summit and other Russia–Africa events (PDF) was held on January 25, 2023. The list of participants in this organizing committee, as evident from the minutes, is quite extensive and was headed by the Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. The document covers issues of logistics and infrastructure for the planned event, including rental budgets for venues.
As can be seen from the minutes, the summit was originally planned to last not 2 but 4 days, from July 26 to 29. But in the last month, while processing applications from participants, the Russians decided to shorten the time frame. The list of guests who had applied for participation as of July 14, two weeks before the summit, was already much smaller than initially expected. Unlike in 2019, in 2023, two times fewer foreign representatives expressed a desire to attend the summit in the terrorist country.
Here are the lists of participants from the closed database of the Russia–Africa 2023 summit:
Of particular interest may be applications for participation from such countries as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and others. Perhaps these representatives of western brands and companies will change their plans after the release of this publication. After all it is not in their interests to see their participation in the summit used by the Russians for their own ends, in particular for propaganda or intelligence purposes.
Here is the English-language table with participants from some countries highlighted in color:
Although the Russians claim that it is an economic summit, it is primarily a propaganda platform for Putin to demonstrate to both foreign and Russian audiences that foreign companies, not only from Africa but also from the West, are still willing to associate with Russia, despite the fact that it wages the largest war of aggression in Europe since World War II.
Russian diplomats (or rather intelligence services) compiled a detailed database of the inter-parliamentary delegations at the Russia–Africa conference that took place in March 2023.
- xlsx (database of official African delegations)
- xlsx (summary table of Russian companies invited to the conference, those who accepted and those who did not respond to the invitation).
It is likely that following the planned summit, the Russians will also gather databases and information on individuals who can be used as potential agents of influence to promote Russian interests in other countries, not only on the African continent. We therefore call on those planning to travel to the Russia–Africa 2023 summit in St. Petersburg to cancel their participation to avoid becoming a tool for the Russian intelligence services.
Russian neo-colonialism in Africa
Russia is trying to leverage its influence in African countries, using both political pressure and Russian military formations to advance its interests and siphon off resources. For Putin, African countries are objects of economic and political exploitation, not equal economic partners, whereas, the Russia–Africa summit is a major image project and a tool of the Kremlin to pursue a neo-colonial policy in Africa. It is enough to look at the summit program (PDF) to make sure.
From the first passages of this program, Russian priorities become very clear. The Russians emphasize that they are interested in diamond mining under the leadership of the Russian monopoly Alrosa. This for them is the “economy of the new world”, or rather the “new world order” – Diamonds and other minerals that can be siphoned off at low cost from Africa and sold at a large premium abroad. As well as easily controllable African leaders who will vote along with Russia in the UN – these are Putin’s main objectives.
And of course, there is ubiquitous Russian propaganda, singled out as a separate section of the program and passed off as “Russia’s experience in creating sovereign media”.
In the spirit of the Orwellian Newspeak, Russians call their fake-ridden propaganda “sovereign media and the fight against disinformation.”
Read more: The princes of Ghana and Nigeria send letters not only about inherited wealth
And of course, a thief who wants to divert attention from his own actions as the loudest shouting “stop the thief!”. Therefore, Russia which itself pursues a policy of neo-colonialism towards Africa, dedicates an entire panel of the summit to the topic of the “new world order” to manipulate historical contexts.
However, Moscow’s words are always at odds with deeds when it comes to a “just world.” Moscow unleashes wars and occupies the lands of other neighboring states, using the rhetoric of “native Russian territories” to justify its wars of conquest. What is this, if not real neo-colonialism? African leaders can look to the war in Ukraine to understand Moscow’s true intentions for their own territories and natural wealth. The “new world order” for Moscow is not sovereign development and mutually beneficial economic partnership, but, on the contrary, occupation, corruption, plunder, coercive use of terror and military force. Allegorically speaking, it’s a bad idea going to a summit with a cannibal, who will lull you with sweet promises to put you to sleep, and then cut up and devour you. But the choice, of course, remains with the participants and guests of the upcoming summit. It remains up to them if they want to build “partnerships” with the Russian neo-imperialist cannibals, or stay away from dubious offers to participate in the “creation of a new world order.”
Read more publications based on the data from Cyber Resistance hacktivists
- Hacking a Russian war criminal, deputy commander of the OMON of the Krasnoyarsk Krai
- Hacking a Russian war criminal, commander of 960th Assault Aviation Regiment
- Hacking Russian Z-volunteer Mikhail Luchin who ordered sex toys for $25,000 instead of drones for the Russian army.
- BagdasarovLeaks: hacking ex-member of the Russian State Duma Semyon Bagdasarov. Iranian gambit
- Hacked: Russian GRU officer wanted by the FBI, leader of the hacker group APT 28
- Hacking “James Bond”: medical service commander of 960th Assault Aviation Regiment doxed key personnel of his own unit
- Hacking Andrey Lugovoy, member of the Russian State Duma, First Deputy Head of the Security Committee
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- New evidence of collaboration of former Slovak Justice Minister Štefan Harabin with the Russian Federation
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