Russia’s Wagner Group Taking Advantage of Niger’s Instability, Secretary of State Blinken Says

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Tuesday that while he does not think the Wagner Group instigated Niger's coup last month, he believes the Russian mercenary group has tried to take advantage of the African country's instability.

"I think what happened, and what continues to happen in Niger was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner, but… they tried to take advantage of it," Blinken told the BBC.

Blinken's remarks came after acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland traveled to Niger for talks with the coup leaders, nearly two weeks after the July 26 coup that ousted elected President Mohamed Bazoum from office.

Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has asserted that Nuland visited the country this week to block his forces from entering the country, amid reports that a member of Niger's military junta had asked for his assistance in holding power amid pressure from regional neighbors and the West.

Blinken told the BBC on Tuesday U.S. officials are concerned about the Wagner Group "possibly manifesting itself" around the Sahel region.

"Every single place that this Wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed," he said. "Insecurity has gone up, not down."

Blinken also said there was a "repeat of what's happened in other countries, where they brought nothing but bad things in their wake."

Nuland said she tried to caution coup leaders about relying on Prigozhin for security.

“Of course I raised … Wagner and its threat to those countries where it is present, reminding them that security gets worse, that human rights get worse when Wagner enters,” Nuland said. “I would not say that we learned much more about their thinking on that front.”

According to the BBC, it was unclear Tuesday if Wagner forces had entered Niger, although a Telegram channel affiliated with Wagner said Monday that about 1,500 of its soldiers had been sent to Africa.

In a voice message uploaded to the platform, Prigozhin told the junta to "give us a call," the BBC reported.

"We are always on the side of the good, on the side of justice, and on the side of those who fight for their sovereignty and for the rights of their people," he said.