A cache of leaked documents from a network of Russian agents operating across Africa reveals a systematic campaign to place hundreds of pro-Kremlin articles in 35 West African media outlets — paying between $250 and $700 per article — in an operation that has exposed the fragility of the region’s media landscape and its susceptibility to foreign disinformation.
The leak, analysed by the FRANCE 24 Observers team in collaboration with Forbidden Stories and a consortium of international media organisations, catalogues how a network operating under the name “The Company” ran influence operations across French-speaking West Africa between June and October 2024, planting anti-French, anti-Ukrainian, and pro-Russian content in outlets from Senegal to Chad.
How the Operation Worked
The 78-page spreadsheet, written in Russian and titled “reports on the placement of news documents,” lists each target media outlet alongside the amount paid and a URL to the published article. Nearly 650 articles were placed across 35 outlets during the period examined. The articles consistently promoted the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — the Mali-Niger-Burkina Faso bloc that has drifted firmly into Russia’s orbit — while attacking Western countries and Ukraine.
In most cases, the payments appear to have gone not to the media outlets themselves, but to intermediaries — freelance journalists, fixers, and agents — who supplied ready-to-publish articles to newsrooms. Journalists in several outlets told investigators they had no idea the content came from Russian agents.
The Ready-to-Publish Pipeline
Burkina Faso journalist Harouna Drabo, a specialist in influence campaigns in French-speaking Africa, said the practice is so common it has its own nickname: PAD — “prêt à diffuser,” meaning “ready to broadcast.” These pre-written articles, typically paid at rates between 100 and 500 euros, are sent to journalists via email or WhatsApp and published with little or no editing.
“It happens that sometimes the head of a publication isn’t even aware that this is happening in his newsroom,” Drabo said.
At least 13 articles were found to have been fraudulently published by Senegal’s PressAfrik — a media outlet that later removed them and won a Journalistic Trust Initiative certification for ethical journalism. The outlet’s director, Ibrahima Faye, said he was “shocked” to discover the articles on his site.
The Company: From Prigozhin to the Kremlin
The influence network, known as “The Company,” was initially built by Yevgeny Prigozhin — the late Russian warlord and founder of the Wagner mercenary group. After Prigozhin’s death in a plane crash in August 2023, the network was gradually absorbed by Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR, according to researchers.
Maxime Audinet, a specialist in Russian influence at France’s National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations (Inalco), described the operation as “a vast system of propaganda laundering to legitimise the Russian presence by penetrating local media ecosystems.” He said the leaked documents reveal how Moscow is exploiting the economic vulnerability of West Africa’s media outlets.
Among the most targeted outlets was AfriqueMedia.tv — a pan-Africanist platform based in Cameroon with over 1.2 million Facebook followers, which entered a partnership with Russian state broadcaster RT in 2022. Its CEO was sanctioned by France and the European Union in May 2025 for spreading Russian narratives. Afrique Média is alleged to have received $31,250 for publishing 125 placed articles during the period examined.