A picture taken through the window of a vehicle shows a minibus with letters on the rear window, that makes reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin and and the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, in N'Djamena on Sept. 3.DENIS SASSOU GUEIPEUR/AFP/Getty Images
A Russian political strategist has been arrested in Chad, the latest twist in a checkered African career that has seen him imprisoned in Libya, targeted by Canadian sanctions and glorified in three Kremlin-backed propaganda films.
The strategist, Maxim Shugalei, has been pivotal in Moscow’s efforts to win influence across Africa for the past six years. But his arrest suggests he may have been caught up in the struggle between Russia and the United States for geopolitical leverage in Chad, a major military power in West Africa. Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed this week that Mr. Shugalei and three associates had been arrested at Chad’s international airport in recent days. No charges were disclosed, and the Russian ministry said it was seeking their “speedy release.”
Russia describes Mr. Shugalei as a sociologist who heads the Foundation for the Protection of National Values, a pro-Kremlin organization. But he has travelled frequently across Africa for years, trying to boost pro-Russia politicians in countries where Moscow is seeking influence.
He is under European Union sanctions for spreading “propaganda and disinformation” on behalf of the Wagner Group – the Kremlin-linked military contractor whose soldiers are active in Mali, Central African Republic and other African countries – and was added to Canada’s sanctions list in June. He was reportedly a top public-relations specialist for the Wagner Group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash last year.
In 2018, Mr. Shugalei was among a group of Russian operatives who offered suitcases of cash to political candidates in Madagascar, according to a BBC documentary. A few months later, he was active in Libya, where authorities accused him of interfering in elections by trying to orchestrate a political comeback for Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi. He was arrested in Libya in 2019 and jailed for more than a year.
Mr. Shugalei became the hero of three Russian propaganda films in 2020 and 2021, in which he was portrayed as a torture victim in a Libyan prison who was rescued dramatically by Russian troops in Hollywood-style action sequences. He later surfaced in Afghanistan, trying to forge links with the Taliban.
Over the past year, Mr. Shugalei has travelled repeatedly to Chad, where Russia has become increasingly active. Russia’s senior leaders have held several meetings this year with Chad’s President Mahamat Déby while Washington has struggled to maintain its own influence in the country.
Mr. Shugalei visited Chad at least twice in the lead-up to the country’s election in May. In social-media posts, he accused the United States of trying to “destabilize” Chad, and he argued that Chad needs “new partners.”
In April, Chad’s government asked the United States to withdraw all its military personnel from the country. The Pentagon complied with the request, withdrawing about 75 special forces troops. But it said this month that it had reached an understanding with the government to allow its troops to return.
Chad has denied that there is any formal agreement to allow the U.S. troops to return. The murky status of the U.S. troops, along with the arrest of the Russian strategist this month, appears to be a sign that Chad is trying to balance its interests with Washington and Moscow, seeking their support while maintaining some distance from both.
Russia has made rapid gains in West Africa over the past two years. Military coups have led to alliances between Moscow and the new regimes in three Sahel countries – Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso – while U.S. troops were expelled from Niger this year. French troops and United Nations peacekeepers have also been forced to pull out of the Sahel countries after the coups.
This has left Chad as one of the last remaining countries in the region with Western troops on its territory. In an effort to solidify its loyalty, the United States invited Chad’s leader, Mr. Déby, to an Africa-U.S. summit in Washington in 2022, even though Mr. Déby had come to power in a military takeover in 2021 and would normally not qualify for an invitation.
Russia, meanwhile, has been eagerly wooing Chad in recent months, seeking to build on its momentum in the neighbouring Sahel countries. The Kremlin invited Mr. Déby to Moscow in January to meet President Vladimir Putin, who offered Russia’s support to help “stabilize” the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Chad in June and met Mr. Déby for further talks.
In the latest sign of Moscow’s public-relations campaign in Chad, a new Russian cultural centre – known as Russia House – was opened this month in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.
One of the guests at the opening was expected to be Mr. Shugalei, but he was arrested just days before the official opening.