Since the disappearance of Yevgeny Prigozhin in August 2023, the future of the Wagner PMC’s digital influence operations—particularly in Africa—has raised many questions. Recent analyses suggest that these activities persist, though in a transformed manner, and now appear to be integrated into the Russian state’s broader informational influence strategy.

A key player in this new dynamic is African Initiative, a Russian news agency founded in Moscow in September 2023. It presents itself as an information bridge between Russia and Africa. Through its various channels, it disseminates pro-Russian and anti-Western content in multiple languages, including French.

This talk will detail the TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) of the “AI-Freak” modus operandi associated with African Initiative and will showcase several original OSINT pivots used in the investigation.