BRICS allies, ‘memory diplomacy’: Russia is hard at work to expand its global influence

Since the start of the Ukraine war, there have been numerous diplomatic visits by Russian officials to Africa and Latin America aiming at boosting Russia’s global influence.

In 2023 Russian officials visited Angola, Burundi, Eritrea, Eswatini, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, South Africa and Sudan. In the same year, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov toured some areas of Latin America visiting Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. The objective was to deepen ties and increase the support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

As the Ukrainian war goes on, some observers have noted that Russia is trying to gather influential support for its position in the war. Its claims to be fighting against the west’s power and neo-colonialism appear to have won some supporters. Ukraine’s attempts to win allies in the same regions by arguing that it is fighting off an empire don’t appear to have resonated so well.

Some observers argue that we are witnessing the “return of the global Russia” through economic and political influence, and through its use of digital disinformation techniques to distribute narratives. In the 2010s, the expansion of Russia’s influence in Africa was the result of economic “opportunism”, but during the Ukraine war, it has become more strategic. There is evidence that in some African countries the influence of Russia continues to intensify. South Africa, for...

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