The Japan Times - What are Russian forces doing in Mali amid jihadist blocade?

After turning its back on former colonial power France, Mali's junta government in 2021 pivoted to Russia and its notorious Wagner paramilitary group, which became the Africa Corps in June.

Under the direct control of the Russian defence ministry, the Africa Corps' soldiers are tasked with battling the jihadists, who have recently increased attacks in the country's south and west.

While the Wagner Group delivered victories for the Malian army in the north in 2023 with the recapture of key strongholds from suspected jihadists and Tuareg separatists, the wins were not enough to improve overall national security.

Meanwhile Russian forces in Mali are accused of numerous abuses against civilians, which jihadists have exploited by presenting themselves as protectors of targeted communities, according to several reports.

"The list of incidents in which Wagner has been identified as having committed atrocities includes massacres, acts of torture and rape of civilians," Geneva-based NGO Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime wrote in an October report.

The region has now become the world's epicentre of "terrorism", according to the latest Global Terrorism Index.

- 'Actively deployed' -

Since September, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has imposed a blockade on several towns and attacked fuel convoys coming primarily from Senegal and Ivory Coast, through which the majority of Mali's imported goods transit.

The army has struggled to secure the roads, costing the lives of drivers and soldiers alike.

And it has been unable to stem the fuel shortage that is suffocating the country, including the capital Bamako.

Initially limited to air support, the Africa Corps is now intervening on the ground.

The corps is "actively deployed on the ground at the request of the Malian authorities to restore fuel supplies", Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said on Thursday.

She specified that "ground and air escorts have been put in place".

That said, efforts by the Malian army and the Africa Corps "are failing and are extremely costly", a European intelligence source told AFP.

On Tuesday, JNIM threatened to intensify its blockade of Bamako, declaring that all tanker truck drivers would henceforth be considered "military targets" and "dealt with accordingly".

Africa Corps' presence in Mali is part of Moscow's broader strategy to strengthen its political, economic and military influence on the continent, particularly since multiple countries in the West have distanced themselves from Russia.

The group "is already in other African countries such as Libya, Niger and Burkina Faso, where they do mainly training", said Ulf Laessing, director of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Mali.

The Africa Corps has additionally been noted in the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea.

- 'Largely absent' from south -

Unlike its Wagner predecessor, the Africa Corps is adopting a more cautious approach on the ground.

“It has participated in far fewer battles and relies heavily on air support, drones and fortified positions," said Heni Nsaibia, senior west Africa analyst for the ACLED conflict monitor.

Africa Corps "has been largely absent from the south" except for a few operations, Nsaibia said, but it is increasingly involved in assisting Mali's army in securing fuel convoys.

Russia has traditionally concentrated its operations in the north of Mali, home to rich mining resources which are of interest to Moscow.

The junta hopes to take advantage of these mining sites, which are often controlled by JNIM and the Islamic State group in the Sahel -- particularly when it comes to gold, a resource also coveted by Russia.

The Russian company Yadran has partnered with Mali to build a new gold refinery, expected to process 200 tonnes of gold per year.

Meanwhile in mid-November, the Malian army and Russian soldiers recaptured the Intahaka mining site in the country's northern Gao region.

- 'Russia's interests' -

In recent weeks, Moscow has dispatched media outlets to Mali to produce glowing reports about the Africa Corps and burnish its image.

"Military personnel from the defence ministry, especially the Africa Corps, defend Russia's interests always and everywhere," a Russian soldier in Mali recently told state-run Russian TV channel RT.

The Africa Corps declined to answer questions from AFP earlier this week.

According to ACLED data, 924 civilians were killed in incidents involving Wagner and the Malian army in 2024.

Since January 2025, a further 434 have died, it said.

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K.Inoue--JT