During a visit to Russia, Dagalo discussed political and economic issues and cooperation in national security. The Declaration accused Russia of stealing resources of the country and using lands in geopolitical regional and international conflicts. Russia hailed the coup. Sudan is possibly the most important source of African gold for Russia, smuggled hundreds of tonnes of illicit gold over the last few years in efforts to ward against anticipated Ukraine-related sanctions. Kremlin quadrupled gold since 2010, creating a war chest through foreign imports and domestic gold reserves, held more gold than dollars with bullion 23% of total reserves, rose to $630b. Kremlin is the largest foreign player in the huge mining sector, has a lot of operations in Sudanese gold and a lot smuggled in small planes from military airports dotted across the country. 30 tonnes flown to Russia each year because of connections with Hemedti. Wagner Group, private military company run by Kremlin-linked oligarch, is training RSF paramilitary alongside Sudan’s regular army. The 2 heavily armed groups worked to secure important gold mines for Russian mining companies where security is weak in remote areas. M-Invest and subsidiary Meroe Gold started operations after al-Bashir met Putin 2017, offering mining concessions and building a naval base on the Red Sea. CNN investigation: The firm led a disinformation campaign against 2019 revolution that ousted al-Bashir. M-Invest served as a cover for Wagner, staging online anti-revolution campaign against a wave of protest. Sudan’s brief experiment with democracy tried to mend relations with the West after years of crippling sanctions. Russia largely shunned civilian leaders, working instead with Hemedti in coalition between military and executive. Minimising the effect of sanctions through gold informed Russia’s approach in Africa, very similar in Mali, Burkina Faso and Central African Rep. They are going after countries that have plenty of natural resources to help build up reserves. The Telegraph
