10月28日，非洲领导人将齐聚莫斯科，参加自2019年以来举行的第三次俄非峰会。对弗拉基米尔·普京而言，此次峰会是俄罗斯为说服发展中国家相信自己正在代表“全球多数人”对抗“新殖民主义”而发起的一系列努力的一部分。自2022年俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰以来，这一努力势头更加明显。在2023年的最近一次峰会上，俄罗斯方面的一位发言人声称：“俄罗斯士兵在前线牺牲，是为了让非洲大陆的人民获得自由。”
ON OCTOBER 28TH African leaders will gather in Moscow for the third Russia-Africa summit since 2019. For Vladimir Putin the event is part of a concerted effort to persuade the global south that Russia is fighting on behalf of what he calls the “global majority” against “neocolonialism”. The bid has gathered pace since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At the most recent summit in 2023 a spokeswoman claimed that “Russian men give their lives at the front so that people from the African continent are free”.
许多非洲领导人会对这种荒谬的言论嗤之以鼻。但普京认为，非洲大陆为传播这些有害思想提供了肥沃的土壤。今年2月，俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫表示，被欧洲驱逐的俄罗斯官员中有90%已被重新安排到非洲工作。与此同时，俄罗斯通过文化外交、东正教会、高等教育机构、专业团体以及虚假信息等手段，加大力度试图影响非洲民众的思想和态度。
Many African leaders will scoff at such absurd sentiments. But Mr Putin believes that the continent provides fertile ground for seeding its poisonous ideas. In February Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, said 90% of the Russian officials expelled from Europe had been reassigned to the continent. That shift has been accompanied by intensifying attempts to sway African hearts and minds through cultural diplomacy, the Orthodox Church, higher education, professional groups, media ventures and disinformation.
与俄罗斯在非洲的军事干预行动一样，这种“认知战”的效果难以评估。不过，由于人们对苏联的旧有好感，以及非洲国家对富裕国家行为的合理批评，俄罗斯仍从中获益。
As with Russia’s more muscular military interventions on the continent, it is hard to assess the success of this cognitive warfare. But Russia benefits from lingering sympathies for the Soviet Union as well as legitimate African criticisms of the behaviour of richer countries.
俄罗斯的努力就像套娃：表面之下还有更多内容。以文化外交为例。9月，俄罗斯表示将把在非洲的“俄罗斯之家”数量从16个扩大到24个。这些文化机构隶属于俄罗斯外交部。爱沙尼亚智库国际国防与安全中心的伊万·克利什奇等批评者称它们为“俄罗斯宣传网络中的节点”。它们放映的电影支持克里姆林宫的叙事：例如《争夺非洲》，这是一部关于俄罗斯如何援助挑战法国“新殖民主义”的萨赫勒国家的纪录片；还有《我为什么搬到俄罗斯》，讲述据称逃离美国本土“觉醒主义”的美国人。
Russian efforts are like matryoshka dolls: there is more to them than meets the eye. Take cultural diplomacy. In September Russia said it would expand the number of “Russian Houses”, cultural institutions that operate under the ministry of foreign affairs, in Africa from 16 to 24. Critics, such as Ivan Klyszcz of the International Centre for Defence and Security, an Estonian think-tank, call them “nodes in Russian propaganda networks”. The films they show support Kremlin narratives: “Battle for Africa”, a documentary about how Russia came to the aid of Sahelian countries defying French “neocolonialism”, or “Why I Moved To Russia”, about Americans who supposedly fled woke-ism at home.
乌克兰称，这些机构被用来招募非洲人在战争中对抗乌克兰。欧洲各国政府正在辩论是否关闭本国境内的这些机构，以防止其传播宣传。
Ukraine alleges that the houses are used to recruit Africans to fight against it in the war. Governments in Europe are debating whether to close the institutes in their countries for spreading propaganda.
最新的俄罗斯之家于9月在圣多美和普林西比开馆。这个曾是冷战时期苏联卫星国的小型前葡萄牙殖民地，其首都主干道上的一家前理疗诊所内设有该机构。入口处，一幅AI生成的拼贴画上，微笑的圣多美人和“友谊万岁”（苏联口号）的字样迎接访客。作者、君主、体育明星和宇航员的海报“讲述俄罗斯故事”，该机构负责人因娜·阿法纳塞娃解释道。一张普京的相框照片俯视着学习俄语的学生。
The newest Russia House opened in São Tomé and Príncipe—a tiny former Portuguese colony that was a Soviet satellite in the cold war—in September in a former physiotherapy practice on the capital’s main road. An AI-generated collage with smiling São Tomeans and the words amizade dos povos (“friendship of peoples”, a Soviet slogan) greets visitors at the entrance. Posters of authors, monarchs, sports stars and cosmonauts “tell the Russian story”, explains Inna Afanaseva, who runs the House. A framed photo of Mr Putin stares down at students learning Russian.
越来越多的非洲学生前往俄罗斯留学：最新统计约为3.7万人，大约是2010年的五倍，部分原因是奖学金增加。这一数字最近超过了冷战时期的峰值，当时苏联培养了一代非洲精英，其中包括加纳、纳米比亚和安哥拉的现任总统。
A growing number of African students are moving to Russia: the latest tally, at 37,000 or so, is roughly five times greater than in 2010, in part because of an increase in scholarships. The tally recently surpassed the peak during the cold war, when the Soviet Union educated a generation of African elites, including the current presidents of Ghana, Namibia and Angola.
俄罗斯之家还举办曾在苏联学习的专业人士会议，这是重新激活旧关系努力的一部分。他们也为东正教会组织聚会。克里姆林宫一直支持该教会在非洲的扩张，非洲拥有许多保守派基督徒，旨在将俄罗斯定位为传统价值观的避难所，与所谓的堕落西方形成对比。
Russia Houses also host meetings of professionals who studied in the Soviet Union, part of an effort to reactivate old relationships. They also convene gatherings for the Orthodox Church. The Kremlin has supported the church’s expansion in Africa, which is home to many conservative Christians, to position Russia as a haven for traditional values, in contrast to a supposedly decadent West.
俄罗斯还在非洲大陆推广媒体机构。RT 是一家国营服务，已与喀麦隆的 Afrique Media 等机构达成约 30 项内容共享协议。非洲倡议（African Initiative）成立于 2023 年，声称是独立新闻机构，但据法国政府 2025 年发布的一份报告，它与前瓦格纳集团成员、该俄罗斯国家资助的雇佣兵组织以及俄罗斯情报机构有着密切联系。该报告指控该机构制造虚假故事，指责美国在布基纳法索传播登革热，并且很可能传播了法国支持萨赫勒地区受 jihadists 祸害的说法。
Russia also promotes media outlets on the continent. RT, a state-run service, has struck around 30 content-sharing deals with outlets such as Afrique Media from Cameroon. African Initiative, launched in 2023, claims to be an independent news agency but has close links to former members of the Wagner Group, a state-funded Russian mercenary group, and Russian intelligence, according to a report published by the French government in 2025. The report alleges that the outfit is behind false stories that blame America for spreading dengue fever in Burkina Faso and has probably spread the claim that France supports the jihadists who plague the Sahel.
与许多俄罗斯努力一样，它与非洲创作者协同工作。由非洲倡议支持的甘地马利恩网络电视（Gandhi Malien Web TV）有一个由马里主持人和俄罗斯记者共同主持的谈话节目。在布基纳法索，“L’Heure Russe” 由 MC Ruskof 主持，他是一名俄布基纳贝说唱歌手。2024 年，非洲倡议修改了一款流行的战略视频游戏，让玩家可以对抗以阻止萨赫勒国家回归殖民主义。
Like many Russian efforts it works in tandem with African creators. Gandhi Malien Web TV, which is supported by African Initiative, has a talk show with a Malian presenter and a Russian journalist. In Burkina Faso “L’Heure Russe” is presented by MC Ruskof, a Russo-Burkinabe rapper. In 2024 African Initiative modified a popular strategic video game to let players battle to stop Sahelian states from returning to colonialism.
俄罗斯媒体正试图对非洲新闻业施加影响。自 2025 年 7 月以来，RT 和其他国营媒体机构已为来自至少 29 个国家的非洲记者举办了至少 20 次培训活动。这些课程包括实用技巧。但内容具有倾向性。乌克兰战俘被标记为“新纳粹”。乌克兰战争初期布恰大屠杀被用作“假新闻”的例子，需要进行事实核查。
Russian media are seeking influence over African journalism. RT and other state-funded outlets have held at least 20 training events for African journalists from at least 29 countries since July 2025. These courses include practical tips. But the material is tendentious. Ukrainian prisoners of war are labelled “neo-Nazis”. The massacre in Bucha at the start of the Ukraine war is used as an example of “fake news” that needs to be fact-checked.
其他虚假信息是通过线上线下混合的运动推动的。今年，记者联盟“禁忌故事”（Forbidden Stories）报告称，一个名为“公司”（the Company）的俄罗斯支持的影响力网络向全球南方的记者支付报酬，以编写假新闻，这些假新闻随后在当地媒体上发表。该运动旨在削弱，举一例而言，洛比托走廊（Lobito corridor）——一个由美国和欧盟资助的安哥拉基础设施项目。
Other falsehoods are pushed by a mix of online and offline campaigns. This year Forbidden Stories, a coalition of journalists, reported that a Russian-backed influence network known as “the Company” paid reporters throughout the global south for fake stories which ran in local media. The campaign sought to undermine, to take one of many examples, the Lobito corridor, an American- and EU-funded infrastructure project in Angola.
俄罗斯还制造假记者。在非洲代码（Code for Africa）这一非政府组织和Graphika公司于八月发布的一份报告中，他们指出多达35个带有虚假资料的“幽灵”记者。他们的“文章”被真实媒体刊登，随后被其他媒体转载，形成了一种“信息洗钱”的循环。特别活跃的一位幽灵作家是曼努埃尔·戈德辛（Manuel Godsin），他为南非媒体撰文，揭露西方“黑手党”背后的洛比托项目，并发表一篇虚假文章，声称美国正在为奥拉尼亚（Orania）提供星链（Starlink）资金——奥拉尼亚是南非一个仅限白人居住的小镇，居住着怀念种族隔离时代的阿非利卡人。人工智能常被用来创建虚假身份、撰写故事并将其翻译成当地语言。
Russia also creates fake journalists. In a report published in August Code for Africa, an NGO, and Graphika, a firm, identified as many as 35 ghost “reporters” with fake profiles. Their “articles” were published in real media outlets, whose content was picked up by others, creating a cycle of “information laundering”. One especially productive ghost writer was Manuel Godsin, who wrote for South African media about the Western “mafia” behind Lobito as well as a piece that falsely alleged America was funding Starlink in Orania, a small “whites only” town in South Africa inhabited by Afrikaners nostalgic for apartheid. Artificial intelligence was often used to create personas and write stories and translate them into local languages.
正如非洲代码（Code for Africa）的朱斯汀·阿伦斯坦（Justin Arenstein）所指出的，类似的幽灵现象也在其他领域出现。他指出，虚假学者正在制造假学术研究并上传至预印本存储库，同时虚假智库也在发布报告，以增强俄罗斯叙事的可信度。
Similar ghosts are appearing in other areas, notes Justin Arenstein of Code for Africa. He notes the creation of fake academic research by fake academics that is uploaded onto preprint repositories, as well as fake think-tanks publishing reports that lend credibility to Russian narratives.
俄罗斯行动的影响难以衡量。极少数非洲人观看RT或访问非洲倡议（African Initiative）的主页。民意调查显示，俄罗斯在非洲被普遍视为比美国、中国或前殖列强更不具积极影响力。这可能反映出俄罗斯在经济上能提供的东西较少。俄罗斯招募非洲士兵的行为提醒人们，这场战争的真实成本——包括对非洲人的影响。
The impact of Russia’s efforts is hard to gauge. Few Africans watch RT or visit the home page of African Initiative. Opinion polls suggest that Russia is on average seen as a less positive influence on Africa than America, China or former colonial powers. That may reflect the fact that Russia has less to offer economically. Russia’s recruitment of African soldiers is a reminder of its war’s real costs, including to Africans.
然而，阿伦斯坦认为，对此持自满态度是错误的。他将俄罗斯行动的影响比作白蚁逐渐侵蚀非洲社会的有机结构。他认为，克里姆林宫在虚假信息贩子中是罕见的，因为它不仅仅是推动自己的议程，而是刻意试图削弱其运作地区的社会凝聚力。毕竟，一个国家越脆弱，俄罗斯就越能利用它。■
Yet it would be wrong to be complacent, argues Mr Arenstein. He compares the impact of Russia’s campaign to termites gradually eroding the organic structures of African societies. The Kremlin, he argues, is unusual among disinformation merchants in that it deliberately tries to weaken social cohesion where it operates, rather than only promoting its own agenda. After all, the more fragile the country, the more Russia can exploit it. ■