Political analyst Yuriy Romanenko and Middle East expert Mohammad Farajallah conducted a comprehensive analysis of the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan, which is unfolding right now but remains virtually unnoticed by the world community. The broadcast became not just an excursion into African geopolitics, but a warning about how social degradation and the absence of democratic institutions can lead to the complete collapse of a state.
Country of Unfulfilled Hopes
"Sudan is simply a unique case, where a country that is rich in everything, it's a very wealthy country in terms of resources, in terms of oil, gold. I think it's third or fourth in the world in gold production," Farajallah began his story, having personally visited Sudan and spoken with the country's top officials.
The expert described a striking picture of wealth and poverty: "When I was in Sudan, I remember talking with the governor of Khartoum, he said that officially how many heads of cows, which are ownerless, just walking around - one million. You just get some license from the state and it's really like what we sometimes saw in the Wild West."
Sudan has a unique geographical location with access to the Red Sea, controls the confluence of the White and Blue Nile, from where the great river flows into Egypt, feeding the entire Egyptian civilization. The country has a rich history - on its territory there are 132 pyramids (compared to three in Egypt), remnants of the ancient state of Kush, which existed before Egyptian civilization.
However, instead of prosperity, Farajallah saw devastation: "When I went in, we just wanted to eat fish and I enter a restaurant, and there's no tile on the floor, just sand. I jokingly say: 'Probably they're maintaining traditions here.' They say: 'No, it's poverty.'" The only quality restaurants in the capital were opened by Syrians fleeing the war.
Seventy Years of Military Dictatorships
The roots of the catastrophe go back to 1956, when Sudan gained independence. "Sudan was the first to say: 'We are not Sudanese, not Arabs like you, but we want independence.' Then the leader of Egypt was Gamal Abdel Nasser and he already gave Egypt, gave them independence," Farajallah recounts.
From the first days of independence, the country faced an identity crisis: "The question began: who are we? Identity. Okay, we're Sudanese. Some say: we're Arabs. Others say: no, we're Africans, we're Christians, we're Muslims."
Instead of developing a national identity, military coups began: "The state hadn't even appeared yet, and there was the first coup in nineteen fifty-eight. The army seized power." For seventy years, the country has been ruled exclusively by military dictators, each of whom came to power through a coup, promising order but bringing only new repressions.
Particularly tragic was the military's attempt to boost their ratings through religion: "In order to raise their reputation, and what trigger is needed, unfortunately? Religion. Because the absolute majority of Sudan is who? Muslims. And the first moment: a lot of people are fooled when someone tries to raise their hype, their reputation in support of some specific ethnicity."
The introduction of Sharia law caused an uprising in the Christian south, which led to a long civil war and ultimately to the separation of South Sudan in 2011.
The Birth of "Janjaweed"
A key moment in the history of the Sudanese catastrophe was the creation of a private army by dictator Omar al-Bashir. "For Bashir to extinguish this, he decided to create his own militias. In the militia there are such tribes called Rzegat. And remember the name - Janjaweed," Farajallah recounts.
The commander of these formations became a young camel trader Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti: "He found one ambitious young man who traded camels. He's called Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, and he took him under his wing and ordered him to gather from these tribes some militias called Janjaweed."
These formations were tasked with suppressing the uprising in Darfur at any cost: "Naturally, it's clear that there's no value to the army, just need to extinguish this fire at any cost. That is, bloodshed, killings." The result was the death of about 300,000 people, for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Bashir.
But instead of disbanding the criminal formations, Bashir legalized them: "He takes all these Janjaweed militias and legalizes them, and thus creates a state within a state or creates a parallel army, like, for example, Iran. There's the Revolutionary Guard Corps, there's the Ministry of Defense, and thus a dual power appears."
A Revolution That Turned into War
In 2019, on the wave of the "Arab Spring," mass protests began in Sudan: "In nineteen, Sudan also got tired of dictatorship under sanctions for whom? For Omar Bashir. And already, for example, the dictator's resignation is demanded."
Two generals - army chief Al-Burhan and commander of the "Rapid Support Forces" Hemedti - united: "Then the army chief assembles, namely General Al-Burhan, and this one, who Omar al-Bashir thought would always be loyal, and they agree: let's remove Omar al-Bashir. And we'll remove him, thus we present ourselves as taking the people's side."
For the first time in decades, a civilian prime minister appeared - Hamdok: "This is a technocrat, in whom for the first time Sudan begins to see a prime minister who's not in military uniform." But when Hamdok spoke about real elections and political competition, the military staged a new coup in 2021.
"People in Sudan, unfortunately, rejoiced at this. That's the problem," Farajallah states. The illusion that the "right" military would bring order once again turned into tragedy.
The 2023 Civil War
For two years the two generals ruled jointly, but then began a struggle for power: "Al-Burhan, the army, began, already understood that these rapid support forces are a second power, and he decided to liquidate them. But first gently: 'Let's have you integrate into my army.' They say: 'No, no, we're staying separate.'"
In 2023, a full-scale civil war began. Hemedti turned to the UAE and Russia for support: "Hemedti says: 'Anything, just help.' Starts supplying weapons, drones." In exchange for military assistance, Sudan provides gold: "Just in two thousand twenty-two, according to various estimates, Sudan officially exported about five hundred tons of gold."
Russia uses Sudanese gold to circumvent sanctions: "CNN in its investigation, after the annexation of Crimea, they didn't understand why sanctions weren't working. Because just from fifteen to seventeen, Russia imported one hundred eighty-six tons of gold."
Genocide in Real Time
The scale of the tragedy in Sudan is comparable to the genocide in Rwanda, but receives much less attention. Farajallah explains why: "I wondered for a long time, how so? Israel, which is the most terrible scourge, and there were still journalists in Gaza, but not in Khartoum. Then they explained to me that a journalist who goes out in Gaza, his fate is one of three options: either he'll be saved, or he'll die, or they'll help him hide. But in Sudan, anyone who films, there's definitely one option - they'll liquidate him the next day, if not the same day."
Particularly tragic is the story of the city of Al-Fashir in Darfur: "The city before the war had a population of one and a half million. When they entered, there were only half a million left. And forty percent of the city's residents are children." After a year of blockade, the city fell and mass executions began: "CNN and the Washington Post published satellite photos showing just the sheer number of corpses. When they entered and just started executions."
Hemedti allowed his fighters complete freedom of action: "Hemedti allowed his militias - everyone you defeat, you can not only kill, you can murder, you can rape, you can loot. And from this came massive destruction."
Lessons for Ukraine
Romanenko and Farajallah drew harsh parallels with the situation in Ukraine: "Everything happening in Sudan is very instructive for Ukraine in that social degradation happens imperceptibly. And then such processes suddenly begin. But they're prepared by decades of such corrupt policies and stupidity on the part of the authorities."
Particularly sharp was the discussion about language policy. Farajallah shared his personal experience: at a conference in Kyiv, he was asked to speak in Ukrainian, although he was speaking about the culture of Arabic coffee. "Honestly, I didn't understand this. I say: 'Do you see that I'm not Russian?' That is, it's not that I don't know, I know Ukrainian, I don't want to. But just like that! Don't want to - get out!"
The expert cited the example of Algeria: "France enslaved Algeria for one hundred thirty years. France killed more than one and a half million Algerians. France, when it detonated its nuclear bomb, to find out how a nuclear explosion affects people, gathered Algerians from villages, living people, tied them to poles." Despite this, revolution leader Ben Bella called for preserving the French language: "Let's preserve the language as a trophy, a war trophy. Thanks to this tool, an Algerian can communicate in sixty percent of African countries and speaks French in Europe."
Farajallah told a shocking story from Ternopil: "They enter the post office, a woman is standing there, she's talking on the phone in Russian. And the conversation was clear: 'Guys, I sent thermal imagers yesterday.' Two such people come: 'What are you doing? I don't want to say the word, don't speak.' And she's hit on the head. She's bleeding. She's an internally displaced person from Mariupol, came to Ternopil, collects aid and sends thermal imagers."
"Therefore, friends, when you ask the question, is such a thing possible in Ukraine as in Sudan? It's already possible! We're going there at full speed," Farajallah summarized.
The Main Lesson
The main conclusion of the broadcast: "The country must be one for all, for all. And there must be a law that determines actions. The one who came to Khartoum, he wasn't president of all Sudanese, he was president of a specific group of people. And who rules the country? He must be president for all citizens, and it doesn't matter who they are by faith."
Sudan shows that wealth in resources doesn't guarantee prosperity. Japan without resources prospers, while Sudan with gold, oil and fertile lands plunges into chaos. "The first main thing - the first value - is the human being," Farajallah emphasized.
The absence of democratic institutions, rule of law, respect for the rights of all citizens regardless of ethnicity, language or religion creates conditions for the complete collapse of the state. And this process can begin imperceptibly, but then explode into a catastrophe that can no longer be stopped.