In a Luanda courtroom, Angola has rendered a verdict that reaches far beyond two men's prison sentences — it is a nation asserting its sovereignty against what it describes as foreign hands quietly reshaping its political destiny. Lev Lakshtanov and Igor Ratchin, convicted of terrorism and espionage, were found to have moved through Angola not as cultural visitors but as operatives tied to Russia's expanding intelligence architecture in Africa. Their conviction arrives as Angola's leadership has deliberately turned westward, and as Moscow's shadow networks — born from Wagner's mercenary legacy
Russian men convicted of terrorism, spying in Angola coup plot
22 people were killed during July 2025 fuel-price riots in Angola, with over 1,600 arrested; security forces accused of using excessive force against protesters.
Moscow was unwilling to accept that reorientation without a fight
Mark
Why would Russia invest this much effort in Angola specifically? It's not like the country is unstable or ungoverned.
Mimi
Angola has oil. Its economy runs on oil exports. That gives it weight in regional politics and makes it valuable to whoever can influence it. But more than that—Lourenço was moving away from Russia toward the West. That's the kind of shift Moscow doesn't accept passively.
Mark
So these two men were sent to reverse that shift?
Mimi
That's what prosecutors argued. Fund the opposition, destabilize the government, create chaos around elections. It's a playbook Russia has used elsewhere. The fuel price riots gave them an opening—real grievance, real anger. The question is how much these men actually organized versus how much they simply tried to exploit what was already happening.
Mark
The connection to Wagner is interesting. Isn't Wagner supposed to be defunct?
Mimi
Wagner as a brand is gone, but the network didn't disappear. It got absorbed into the military and the intelligence services. Africa Politology is a perfect example—it was Wagner's propaganda arm, now it's the SVR's. The people, the infrastructure, the relationships—they all persisted.
Mark
What does this conviction actually change on the ground?
Mimi
Probably not much in the short term. Russia will keep operating in Africa through other channels. But it signals that some African governments are willing to prosecute Russian operatives, to push back. Angola's president chose to do that. Whether others follow is the real question.
Mark
And the people killed in those riots—do we know what actually happened?
Mimi
Twenty-two dead, over sixteen hundred arrested. Security forces fired live ammunition. Human Rights Watch documented excessive force. The official story is that the government's response was proportional and progressive. The evidence suggests otherwise. Those deaths are the human cost of whatever game was being played.
Le Pouls
- Twenty-two people died and over 1,600 were arrested during fuel-price riots in July 2025 — violence prosecutors say was not spontaneous but seeded and financed from abroad.
- Two Russian men sat in an Angolan court insisting they were there for culture and commerce, while prosecutors traced their connections to a disinformation network born from the Wagner mercenary group and now run by Russia's SVR.
- The alleged plot targeted Angola's political core — either funding the opposition party UNITA or forcing a leadership rupture inside the ruling MPLA ahead of presidential elections.
- Angola's president has spent years pivoting toward Washington and Brussels, and this conviction signals that Luanda is prepared to defend that reorientation with legal force.
- Russia's embassy declined to comment, appeals are pending, and the two men remain in custody — the legal battle is not over, but the message from the bench has already been sent.
In a Luanda courtroom, Angola has rendered a verdict that reaches far beyond two men's prison sentences — it is a nation asserting its sovereignty against what it describes as foreign hands quietly reshaping its political destiny. Lev Lakshtanov and Igor Ratchin, convicted of terrorism and espionage, were found to have moved through Angola not as cultural visitors but as operatives tied to Russia's expanding intelligence architecture in Africa. Their conviction arrives as Angola's leadership has deliberately turned westward, and as Moscow's shadow networks — born from Wagner's mercenary legacy — continue to spread across a continent long contested by outside powers. The case asks an old question in a new register: who gets to decide the future of a nation, and from how far away?
An Angolan court has convicted two Russian nationals — Lev Lakshtanov and Igor Ratchin — of terrorism and espionage, sentencing them to eight and eleven years respectively. Both men maintained they were in Angola solely for cultural and business purposes, but the court rejected that account entirely.
Prosecutors argued the men helped orchestrate and finance the deadly fuel-price protests that erupted in late July 2025. What began as a minibus taxi strike on July 28 escalated into nationwide riots and looting. Security forces responded with live ammunition, rubber bullets, and teargas, leaving twenty-two dead and more than sixteen hundred arrested. Human Rights Watch documented what it called excessive force, including against an earlier peaceful protest on July 12.
Beyond the street violence, prosecutors alleged the two men sought to reshape Angola's political landscape — either by channeling funds to UNITA, the main opposition party, or by engineering a leadership change within the ruling MPLA, which has governed Angola since independence in 1975. Their alleged vehicle was Africa Politology, a Russian disinformation network that grew out of the Wagner mercenary group and, after Yevgeny Prigozhin's death in 2023, came under the control of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR.
The case carries deep historical weight. Russia's ties to Angola stretch back to the Cold War, when the Soviet Union backed the MPLA during the country's long civil war. But President João Lourenço, in office since 2017, has deliberately reoriented Angola toward the United States and Europe — a shift Moscow appears to have resisted.
Two Angolans were tried alongside the Russians. Sports journalist Carlos Tomé received a two-year suspended sentence, while Francisco de Oliveira, secretary-general of UNITA's youth wing, was acquitted. Prosecutors have appealed both outcomes. Lakshtanov and Ratchin have also filed appeals but will remain in custody in the meantime. Russia's embassy in Luanda offered no comment.
An Angolan court has convicted two Russian men of terrorism and spying, sentencing them to prison terms that reflect what prosecutors say was a coordinated effort to destabilize the country ahead of next year's presidential elections. Lev Lakshtanov received eight years; Igor Ratchin was handed eleven. Both men had insisted they were in Angola only for cultural and business purposes, a defense the court rejected.
The charges centered on allegations that the two men helped orchestrate and finance deadly demonstrations that erupted in late July 2025 over fuel price increases. What began as a minibus taxi strike on July 28 spiraled into riots and looting across the country. By the time security forces moved in with live ammunition, rubber bullets, and teargas, twenty-two people lay dead and more than sixteen hundred had been arrested. Human Rights Watch later documented what it called excessive force, particularly during an earlier peaceful protest on July 12 against the same fuel price hikes.
According to prosecutors, Lakshtanov and Ratchin's ambitions extended beyond the street violence. They allegedly sought to influence Angola's political landscape by either funding UNITA, the country's largest opposition party, or by forcing a leadership change within the ruling MPLA, which has governed Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975. The prosecutors painted a picture of foreign operatives working to reshape Angola's political future from the shadows.
The investigation traced the men's connections to Africa Politology, a Russian disinformation and propaganda operation that emerged from the Wagner mercenary group. After Yevgeny Prigozhin's death in 2023, control of Africa Politology passed to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR. Wagner itself was rebranded as Africa Corps and folded into Russia's military structure, yet its footprint across the continent only expanded.
Angola's relationship with Russia is historically rooted. During the country's brutal civil war from 1975 to 2002, the Soviet Union and Cuba backed the MPLA while the United States and apartheid South Africa supported their opponents. That Cold War alignment left lasting ties. Yet Angola's current president, João Lourenço, has deliberately shifted course since taking office in 2017, strengthening relations with the United States and Europe instead. The conviction of these two Russian operatives suggests Moscow was unwilling to accept that reorientation without a fight.
The case also illuminates Russia's broader strategy in Africa. Over the past decade, Russian military and intelligence presence has grown substantially across the continent. Africa Corps provides security for the Central African Republic's president and backs military juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Russian troops have been deployed in Equatorial Guinea, Libya, and Sudan since 2023. Even Madagascar's new president, who took power through a coup in October 2025, has brought Russians into his presidential guard and launched a weekly television program celebrating Madagascar-Russia relations.
Two Angolans were tried alongside the Russians. Carlos Tomé, a sports journalist, received a two-year suspended sentence. Francisco de Oliveira, secretary-general of UNITA's youth wing, was acquitted. Prosecutors have appealed both verdicts. Lakshtanov and Ratchin have also filed appeals but will remain in custody while those challenges proceed. Russia's embassy in Luanda declined to comment on the convictions.
Citations marquantes
Prosecutors alleged the men wanted to influence next year's presidential elections by funding the opposition party UNITA or forcing a leadership change within the ruling MPLA— Angolan prosecutors
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