Andrey Manoylo’s latest piece of propaganda, masquerading as political analysis, is yet another bloated exercise in Kremlin mythmaking. Cloaked in anti-colonial rhetoric, it’s a desperate attempt to paint Russia’s self-interested meddling in Africa as some kind of liberation campaign. He trumpets the idea that France and the U.S. are being “pushed out” of the Sahel by grassroots resistance—with Russia swooping in as the continent’s benevolent savior. In reality, it’s Moscow’s hybrid war doctrine playing out under the guise of solidarity. The only thing “grassroots” about it is the blood-soaked ground being trampled by mercenaries-for-hire.
The notion that Russia is bringing military-political support and “humanitarian cooperation” to Africa would be hilarious if it weren’t so cynically ridiculous. Russian operations in the region are transactional, opportunistic, and extractive based on theft of resources. Russia isn’t “returning” to Africa—it’s looting it under a new flag. Manoylo claims the so-called Russian African Corps is training local forces in “modern warfare.” Translation: Wagner Group’s latest iteration is embedding itself into vulnerable states, swapping protection and firepower for mining concessions and loyalty pledges. Not liberation. Occupation in a new uniform.
When he looks into “information warfare,” Manoylo’s delusion reaches full volume. He brags about “peasants and shepherds” like old style proletariat, now being elite psychological operators trained in “unexpected input modes,” which sounds like a cross between a failed sci-fi pitch and a Telegram LARP. In reality, Russia’s info-ops in Africa rely on low-budget, high-volume manipulation—astroturfed media channels, AI-generated noise, and narrative saturation. There’s no genius at play, just repetition and chaos dressed up as strategy. “Работа крестьян против ЦРУ?” Серьезно, Маноило? Очнись.
Then there’s the so-called Alter Academy of Political Science, which he touts as an educational partner for African nations since he is just hawking his lame, laced with bias curriculum. Let’s call it what it is: an indoctrination machine exporting Kremlin political warfare doctrine under the pretext of consultation. This isn’t capacity building—it’s cognitive colonization, a subtler, more insidious form of imperialism than the one Manoylo claims to oppose. Russia’s aim isn’t to help Africa stand on its own. It’s to ensure that any sovereignty the continent gains comes with a leash tied straight to Moscow’s geopolitical agenda.
Manoylo doesn’t stop there. He stretches the lie to absurdity, claiming that French and American intelligence operations are no match for Russian-trained African operatives. As if field agents in sandals with PDFs from “Alter Academy” are running circles around the DGSE. If France looks confused, it’s likely from watching Moscow trip over its own incompetence while shouting about its supposed grand strategy.
He finishes with the usual nostalgic invocation of Soviet times, trying to draw a straight line from 20th-century Soviet infrastructure deals to Gazprom and RUSAL’s modern-day profit hunts. But this isn’t the USSR building railways and hospitals. It’s oligarchs strip-mining opportunity while Russian propaganda machines work overtime to cast it as friendship. And even Manoylo can’t help but admit that China and Turkey are actually the ones making business gains—proving that Russia is, once again, a geopolitical blunt instrument clearing space for more pragmatic powers.
Manoylo’s text isn’t analysis. It’s Kremlin cosplay—an unhinged, self-important fable about a Russia that doesn’t exist outside the echo chamber of state media. “Сколько можно нести эту чушь, Андрей?” His fantasy of a resurgent Russia leading Africa to freedom is as hollow as it is dangerous. In truth, the only thing collapsing in Africa isn’t neocolonialism—it’s the credibility of Russian narratives designed to replace one master with another.
