The accusation that Russian mercenaries are operating in Mali has existed for some time. Reports from peacekeepers now suggest the arrival of Russian forces in the country. They could fill the possible vacuum left by the French withdrawal on Monday.
One day after the French withdrawal from the camp in Gao, German and British soldiers from the UN mission Minusma observed the arrival of obviously Russian forces at the airport in the Malian city. In addition, two aircraft for so-called close air support – an EMB 314 Super Tucano and an L39 Albatros – were identified, wrote the Operations Command to the Defense Committee of the Bundestag.
20 to 30 people in military uniforms who could not be assigned to the Malian armed forces were seen unloading equipment from a transport plane, it said. These are “almost certainly” members of the Russian security forces. It is assumed that the L39 cannot be operated by Malian personnel and must be carried out by Russian forces.
On Monday, France withdrew the last soldiers of its anti-terrorist operation “Barkhane” from Mali and thus also left the camp in Gao. Mali, with around 20 million inhabitants, has experienced three military coups since 2012 and is considered to be extremely unstable politically. Since the most recent coup in May 2021, the country has been run by an interim military government, which has been criticized by Western states for its close ties with Russia. At the end of May, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for talks in Moscow.
Allegations against Russia of using mercenaries from the Wagner Group in Mali have been around for a long time. They are accused of cruelty, including torture. The Kremlin denies having anything to do with possible mercenary operations. Wagner mercenaries are also said to have been deployed in Ukraine, Libya and Syria.
The Bundeswehr is on site with around 1,100 soldiers as part of the UN mission Minusma. Their tasks include ensuring security and order – for example through reconnaissance campaigns on the ground and in the air and the training of police and security forces. The Malian leadership had recently made the work of the blue helmets much more difficult and thus caused resentment between the states, so that Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht even suspended the deployment of the Bundeswehr.