Khartoum, Sudan (CNN)Days after Moscow launched its bloody war on Ukraine, a Russian cargo plane stood on a Khartoum runway, a strip of tarmac surrounded by red-orange sand. The aircraft’s manifest stated it was loaded with cookies. Sudan rarely, if ever, exports cookies.
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Timeline of Russian involvement in Sudan
2014
Crimea
Russia invades Ukraine’s Crimea, prompting a slew of Western sanctions. Moscow begins to eye gold as it looks for ways to transfer wealth without financial monitoring.
2017
Meroe Gold
Sudan’s long-time then president, Omar al-Bashir, and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet. Bashir proposes Sudan as Moscow’s “key to Africa.” Russian-Sudanese company Meroe Gold established.
2019
Bashir is toppled by Sudan’s pro-democracy movement. Russia switches gears and props up newly empowered warlords with training and weapons.
2020
US Treasury sanctions Meroe Gold. It begins the process of creating a Sudanese front company, al-Solag.
2021
Anti-corruption committee
An anti-corruption committee, set up following Sudan’s 2019 revolution, uncovers Russia’s smuggling operation in collusion with members of the Sudanese military. The probe is shut down shortly before the military coup of October 2021, after which the junta immediately dismantles the committee.
2022
Al-Solag
CNN reporting finds that smuggling operations continue under Meroe Gold front company al-Solag.
Source: CNN reporting, BBC, Hansard, UK Parliament
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Men at an artisanal mine in Sudan’s gold country. Credit: Alex Platt, CNN
A worker toils at a mine around 60 miles south of Atbara, northeast Sudan. Credit: Alex Platt, CNN
An artisanal mine just off the highway between Atbara and Port Sudan. The miners work in searing heat, with little protection from the elements. Credit: Alex Platt, CNN
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
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