Founder’s note: This is a podcast interview that is exclusive to Substack. I am posting all of my one-on-one interviews on this platform moving forward. Please don’t forget to become a paid subscriber to help support my weekly reporting.
When Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his murderous regime aren’t committing genocide in Ukraine, they love blasting the West for its history of imperial and colonial abuses in the Global South.
And, the thing is, they aren’t wrong. Western nations have caused great harm to Global South nations, but Russian isn’t any less a colonizer. Look no further than Ukraine, but that’s not what this video is about. Russia has long claimed to be the African continent’s champion against Western imperialism, but one Nigerian reporter has been uncovering years of Russian human rights abuses across Africa that throw cold water on that assertion.
Daily Beast correspondent Philip Obaji Jr. has risked his life uncovering some of the worst allegations of Russian mercenaries operating in African countries, including alleged rapes of girls in Central African Rupublic, sexually assaulting allied soldiers, pressuring African students to fight in Ukraine, murdering civilians to access gold mines and many more atrocities.
In my hour-long video interview with Phillp, he told me about the time Central African Armed Forces soldiers tortured him over his Wagner reporting, Russian propaganda on the continent, background details on his most important stories on Russian mercenaries and why he is so passionate about uncovering Russian war crimes in Africa.
Check out the interview above!
Read some of Philips reporting:
Twins, 17: We Were Drugged and Raped by Putin’s Private Army
Putin’s Private Army Accused of Sickening New Massacre
Russia’s Shadow Army Accused of Raping Own Allied Troops
Teen Sold on Facebook: I Was Raped by Putin’s Private Army
University Accused of Hounding Students to Fight Putin’s War
You can also follow him on Twitter at @PhilipObaji.
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