Russia’s Wagner says West and Ukraine play important role in Mali conflict

On July 26-27, Mali’s separatist fighters and al-Qaeda affiliates reportedly inflicted the worst defeat on the battlefield in Africa on Russia’s Wagner Corps.

Mali’s military junta has signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense and embedded what it calls “Russian military trainers,” or Wagner units, into its forces to fight separatist and jihadist groups.

There were conflicting reports in the news and on social media about the fighting and the number of Wagner mercenaries killed.

Information compiled by VOA sister organizations Radio Liberty It suggests that Tuareg separatist rebels and al-Qaeda-affiliated groups ambushed Wagner fighters and Malian government forces near the town of Tinzaouaten, on the border with Algeria.

Analyst Ivan Filippov told reporters that the Russian military propaganda department suffered a major loss due to the closure of the popular Telegram channel “Gray Zone”, whose administrator was one of the troops killed in Mali by Wagner. VOA Russian Service.

The Russian government, the Kremlin and the Defense Ministry have not commented on the conflict in Mali.

Wagner said the “militants” used heavy weapons, drones and “suicide vehicles” to inflict losses on Wagner mercenaries.

Telegram channels linked to Russian security services and Wagner said Malian fighters killed between 20 and 80 Russian soldiers and took 15 prisoners.

Russian state media reported the events and tried to link the West or Ukraine to the attacks.

Alexander Ivanov, director of the Union of International Security Officers (OUIS) at the Wagner Front, told Russia’s state-run TASS news agency that the West is directing the separatists.

“This ambush they faced was much better prepared than previous ambushes (of Malian government forces) had encountered. They had scouts, special forces that could draw out the column, and the necessary equipment and weapons. In addition, the weather was not in our favor,” Ivanov said.

“Obviously, this confirms that Western forces have taken over the coordination of the militants.”

This is unfounded.

Neither Ivanov nor TASS provided evidence to support these allegations.

this The United States has sanctioned Both Ivanov and OUIS were charged for Wagner-related activities, including destabilizing African countries.

Olayinka Ajala, an expert on West Africa told Newsweek There are “unconfirmed reports” that the French military is supporting the Tuareg “who are building an alliance with forces linked to al-Qaeda.”

France launched a nine-year military campaign against Islamist forces in northern Mali, but withdrew its troops in August 2022 after pro-Kremlin officer Assimi Goïta seized power in a 2021 coup.

France has been successful in eliminating jihadist leaders but has failed to pressure successive governments to introduce governance improvements “that would undermine jihadist groups’ ability to recruit,” West Point Combating Terrorism Center June 2022 Report explain.

As the French military operation was winding down, Goita invited the Wagner Group in late 2021. At the time, Wagner was a private military company. In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian Ministry of Defense to take over the Wagner forces.

Wagner also accused Ukraine of supporting Tuareg rebels. Russian state broadcaster RT RT said it had received photos purportedly showing Ukrainian instructors working in Mali. RT also claimed that Kiev had brought Malian separatists to Ukraine to teach them how to use first-person-view drones.

Ukraine does not deny aiding Malian rebels.

The Kyiv Post wrote in an article on Channel X (official Twitter) on July 29 that Andrei Yusov, a representative of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Service, claimed that the Malian rebels “obtained the necessary intelligence, which allowed the military operation against Russian war criminals to succeed.”

The Kyiv Post published a photo “sourced from the Ukrainian defense and security services” showing Tuareg rebels posing with Ukrainian flags.

However, independent Russian news site Istories reported that forensic analysis of the photo showed evidence of digital manipulation, with some people and the Ukrainian flag possibly added to the existing image.

During the 2022 global food crisis, Russia methodically launched missiles into Ukraine, undermining the country’s ability to produce and export food. Moscow also spread false propaganda blaming Kyiv and the West for exacerbating global food insecurity in Africa and elsewhere.

August 2023 Ukraine vows to ‘liberate Africa from Russian control’“”.

this Kyiv Post Several videos purportedly showing Ukrainian special forces conducting military operations against Wagner forces in Sudan and Syria were released.

Wagner has long operated in the shadows, denying its presence in many African countries or any links to the Russian government. Putin once claimed that Wagner PMC did not exist.

That changed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with tens of thousands of Wagner troops taking part in the fighting.

After the Wagner PMC launched a brief rebellion against the Russian government in June 2023, Putin admits “The cost of maintaining the entire Wagner Group is entirely borne by the state.”

In 2023, after the sudden death of Wagner Group leader and founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Ministry of Defense took over the Wagner Group and added it to the newly formed Afrika Korps.

Like other African countries, Wagner supports Mali’s undemocratic regime in exchange for a share of its lucrative mineral wealth.

A U.S. State Department February Report said that despite Wagner’s portrayal of itself as a stabilizing force, Mali has seen a “278% surge in terrorist violence against civilians since 2021.”

Wagner Power Suspected of committing multiple atrocities domestic.