Who will be the three apprentice journalists selected by Moscow to become correspondents for the Russian “press agency” African Initiative? In Bamako, the 60 Malian students at the journalism school set up at the end of July by this structure controlled by the Russian intelligence services are impatiently awaiting the results of the competition. For a month, in August, everyone followed free courses, via video modules, online or in person in Bamako, from a certain Mikhail Pozdniakov, head of the French “editorial” of African Initiative.
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The World and nine international media outlets, coordinated by the organization Forbidden Stories, a network of investigative journalists created in 2017 to continue the work of silenced reporters, had access to the content of this training as part of an investigation of eight months on the workings of Russian disinformation in Africa.
In polished French, Mikhail Pozdniakov explains in eight videos the basics of journalism, from video filming to data collection and fact-checking. With, in the background, a geostrategic dimension focused on Mali, governed since 2020 by a junta supported by Moscow and the Russian security group Wagner.
“The Internet space has transformed into an alternative battlefield where the war is waged not by regular armies, but by journalists, information campaign specialists, political technologists and opinion leaders”says Mr. Pozdniakov in one of these videos. In another, the Russian advises his students to fill their articles with titles and citations “striking and provocative », giving them as an example “Macron clears: the results of Lavrov’s visits [Sergueï, ministre russe des affaires étrangères] et Evkourov [Iounous-bek, vice-ministre russe de la défense] in Françafrique ».
Resume the propaganda network built by Wagner
All these video modules bear the African Initiative seal. After the disappearance of Wagner's boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in the crash of his jet in August 2023, this agency was tasked by the Russian Ministry of Defense with taking over and developing the propaganda network built by Wagner on the African continent. Since then, she has published articles online promoting Russian interests in Africa.
If African Initiative already has offices in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – three countries governed by pro-Russian juntas – it is now actively looking for local correspondents in other African countries. “There are very few representatives, among the Russian media, who constitute and cover the information agenda on the continent. The major problem is the lack of primary sources. Our journalism school is designed to remedy this situation”underlines African Initiative in an article published on July 31 on its site on the occasion of the launch of the program.
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