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A group of Russians and Angolans are going on trial in Angola after being accused of fomenting protests, which they deny.
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Arrested last August, political consultant Igor Ratchin and translator Lev Lakshtanov are facing 11 charges, including terrorism, espionage and influence peddling.
The BBC has obtained a copy of the indictment that includes charges relating to an alleged operation aimed at changing the political course of Angola.
The Russians' lawyers challenge the indictment on the grounds that it lacks "concrete and objective facts".
According to the prosecution, the Russians acted on behalf of Africa Politology, a shadowy network of operatives and intelligence officers in Africa that emerged from the now-defunct Wagner Group, whose founder Yevgeny Prigozhin died in 2023 in a plane crash.
Political operatives linked to Wagner have been active across Africa for more than a decade, in particular in the Central African Republic, Mali, and Madagascar.
The Russians' defence team says they are not connected to Africa Politology or the Wagner Group, were not acting on behalf of the Russian state, and were instead cooperating to create a cultural "Russian House" in Luanda.
Angola is a top African oil producer and diamond exporter. Its natural resources and strategic position make it a country of continued interest for Moscow. But while ties date back to the Cold War, Angola has been gradually drifting away from Russia's sphere of influence.
Russian diamond mining company Alrosa and bank VTB were forced to leave Angola due to international sanctions imposed because of the Ukraine war.
Angolan President João Lourenço has pivoted towards the West, and has not met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since 2019.
The Russian operatives in Africa we
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