Wagner ready to increase Africa presence, Prigozhin tells local media

FILE PHOTO: Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

(Reuters) - Russia's Wagner mercenary group is ready to increase its presence in Africa, its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin told an African news outlet in an audio interview published online earlier this week.

"We aren't reducing (our presence), moreover we're ready to increase our various contingents," Prigozhin told Cameroon-based Afrique Media. The telephone interview was posted on YouTube but had been viewed only 1,400 times as of late Friday.