🕳️ Released Phantom Node 116: Africa Corps (GRU). Praetorian Guard of Dictatorships
- Foundation date
13 January 2026
This project is a philosophical and artistic study of the phenomenon of "phantom nodes" — invisible yet influential objects and subjects in the contemporary global system. The descriptions contained within this study are metaphorical and allegorical, aimed at uncovering systemic problems, regimes, and civilisational influences. They are not a journalistic investigation or legal accusations, but serve as an artistic interpretation of reality.
Names are included because they appear in open international sources.
This creation is protected and cannot be used by third parties for the purpose of supporting, propagating, or legitimizing criminal regimes, terrorist states, and organizations operating in the shadows. The use of data or analysis results from this project, whether in part or in full, is expressly prohibited if the objective is to support or conceal their criminal activity.
The project may be freely used by individuals and organizations that combat evil, corruption, and aggression.
Mode: Neo-Colonial Security Barter / Export of Violence
🕳️ Released Phantom Node 116: Africa Corps (GRU). Praetorian Guard of Dictatorships
“Security” in exchange for resources: coup → legitimacy → concession.
Who is this?
The Africa Corps is the officially formalized Russian security structure in Africa, emerging as the direct successor to the Wagner Group after its nominal dissolution.
Integrated into the GRU and Ministry of Defense chain of command, it retains mercenary-style practices under state cover.
The phantom operates as a manager of palace coups, personal regime protection and forceful access to natural resources.
Type of node:
Military, geo-economic, colonial-resource
Status:
State-legitimized, shielded by intergovernmental “security agreements”
Form of control:
Coups, personal guards, military advisors, concession-based contracts
Phantom image:
A camouflaged hand moving puppet regimes across an African chessboard
What remains after the phantom:
Resource concessions, shadow supply routes, dismantled sovereignty
Core of the node:
What sustained it?
A security vacuum after Western withdrawals, post-colonial fragility and dictators’ dependence on physical survival.
How did it become a phantom?
When “private” mercenarism was replaced by direct state control while preserving criminal methods.
Why does the phantom still exist?
Due to the lack of security alternatives, elite corruption and global demand for strategic raw materials.
Phantom’s condition:
Active, institutionalized, expansionist
After the regime:
exposed security-for-resources schemes · uncovered intelligence-managed coups · dismantled personal guard networks · criminalized concession-based plunder · blocked shadow logistics routes · audited resource contracts internationally · seized illegally extracted assets · restored civilian control over armed forces · cleansed security institutions · returned sovereignty over natural resources
Collective reaction:
Security cannot be a currency.
Sovereignty is not sold at gunpoint.
Colonialism has no second edition.
Core principle:
When regime survival becomes a commodity, the state ceases to exist.
Alt-text:
Graphite illustration of a chessboard shaped like the African continent. Gold bars and uranium barrels replace chess pieces. A camouflaged hand bearing a GRU insignia, partially covering the Wagner emblem, moves a puppet figure in uniform. The hand’s shadow forms prison bars on the ground. A transport aircraft silhouette rises against a sunset backdrop.
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Unmasking the Phantom. Pivtorak.Studio. 13.01.2026
🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical exploration.
All depictions are allegorical; the piece does not allege facts about specific private individuals without corroborated evidence.
Names are included because they appear in open international sources.
🫧 Phantom Node Dossier 116: Africa Corps (GRU) — The Wagner Rebrand and Coup Control.
Key Aspects of the Phantom:
"The Praetorian Guard of Dictatorships." Node 116 embodies the "Security for Resources" model. Its phantom nature lies in hybrid legitimacy: official Russian Ministry of Defense structures operating like a transnational criminal organization. It is a node where African sovereignty is traded for the physical survival of ruling cliques.
Regimes:
🔄 Coup Cycle Regime: Supporting or initiating regime changes followed by immediate "security agreements" that grant Russia exclusive mineral rights.
🛡️ Palace Immunity Regime: Creating personal guards for dictators, making them entirely dependent on Russian bayonets and blocking any path to democratic transition.
⛏️ Concession Rent Regime: Direct management of mines (gold, uranium, lithium) via GRU-controlled front companies, with profits flowing directly to fund the war in Ukraine.
Tools:
🪖 Africa Corps: Regular units with mercenary status, allowing Russia to maintain plausible deniability regarding war crimes.
🎙️ Troll Farms 2.0: Utilizing local influencers and media networks to fuel anti-Western sentiment and legitimize Russian presence.
💰 Shadow Airlift: Using Il-76 transport aircraft to exfiltrate gold bullion and rare earth metals directly to Russia, bypassing the international banking system.
Civilizational Influences:
📉 Restoration of Neocolonialism: Russia establishes a brutal form of colonial rule, extracting resources in exchange for the preservation of repressive regimes.
☢️ Strategic Raw Material Control: Attempting to create a monopoly on African uranium and lithium to blackmail the EU regarding energy and the "Green Deal."
⚠️ Migration Weaponization: Destabilizing the Sahel triggers new waves of refugees to Europe, used by Moscow as a tool for political pressure on the EU.
Dissection of a Phantom Node. Pivtorak.Studio. 13.01.2026
🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical exploration. Depictions are allegorical and do not allege facts about private individuals without corroborated evidence.
Names are included because they appear in open international sources.
