Years of war and chaos, an ongoing political stalemate, the devastating flood in September 2023, and the absence of a democratic path have made Libya prone to the influence of foreign militias, such as the Russian Wagner Group.

The Wagner Group has had a foothold in Libya since 2018.

However, according to a recent report by the London-based military think tank Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, Russia is about to step up efforts even further in the form of an "Entente Roscolonial'' — a group of states that actively seek to assist Russia — in the Middle East and Africa.

The politically fragmented yet oil- and gold-rich Libya on the Mediterranean Sea is a prime candidate for this kind of new "Russian colonialism."

The country has been split under two rival administrations since 2014. Libya's west is under the administration of the Government of National Unity, an internationally recognized UN-brokered provisional government based in Tripoli under Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. It is backed by Turkish militias.

The eastern administration is the Tobruk-based Government of National Stability of Prime Minister Ossama Hamad, who is backed by the Libyan National Army under General Khalifa Hiftar.

"The objectives of Wagner in Libya have been mainly to get access to oil........

© Deutsche Welle