Ukrainian military intelligence agents claim involvement in an ambush that killed fighters from Russia’s Wagner group in the West African nation of Mali, thousands of miles from the front line in Ukraine.
A Telegram channel linked to Wagner’s leadership acknowledged Monday that the group suffered heavy losses during fighting in Mali last week.
The channel said Wagner and Mali’s armed forces had been fighting “fierce battles” for five days against a coalition of Tuareg separatist forces and jihadist groups, using heavy weapons, drones and suicide bombers. Many Wagner fighters, including a commander, Sergei Shevchenko, were killed, the channel said.
Andrii Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said Monday that “the rebels received the necessary information, and not only information, that allows for a successful military operation against Russian war criminals.”
Yusov did not say whether Ukrainian military personnel were involved in the fighting or present in the country. He said the agency “will not go into details at this time, but there will be more information.”
Mali’s government, which has been battling multiple insurgencies in the country’s north for more than a decade, turned to Wagner for help after a military junta took power in 2020.
Read also: Hundreds of Wagner Group Soldiers Return to Ukraine
In May last year, the US imposed sanctions on Wagner’s head in Mali, accusing the group of using its operations there as a conduit for military equipment for the war in Ukraine.
The Kyiv Post on Monday published a photo it said showed Malian rebels holding a Ukrainian flag, which it said had been verified by a defense source in Kyiv. It was not possible to independently verify the image.
Ukrainian troops are believed to be active in Sudan, another place where Wagner forces have seen heavy fighting, in a further sign Kyiv’s struggle with Moscow has taken on global dimensions.
Read also: Russia Rejects UN Resolution Extending Sanctions on Mali
The Wagner Group was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime acquaintance of Vladimir Putin who built the fighting force as a way for Moscow to get involved in conflicts without the official use of the Russian military.
The group has carried out much of the fiercest fighting in Ukraine, often using pardoned ex-convicts in exchange for serving on the front line.
The group is also active across Africa and remains active despite Prigogine’s fall from power after a failed coup attempt last summer. He later died after an explosion on his plane, widely believed to have been ordered by the Kremlin, but Wagner’s influence in Africa remains.
Also read: Wagner Boss Prigozhin Dies, Here’s How Several World Leaders Respond
“For Moscow, the African countries where Wagner is present are simply zones of interest that allow Russia to seize resources – gold, diamonds, gas and oil – and the money is used to finance Russian aggression,” said Serhii Kuzan, director of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation in Kyiv, explaining why Ukraine might want to target Wagner in Africa.
He added that the strikes had additional benefits for Kyiv: “destroying” some of Wagner’s most experienced fighters and reducing the group’s overall military potential, as well as taking revenge for war crimes in Ukraine.
“Most of the destroyed fighters gained military experience in Ukraine, where they committed hundreds or thousands of war crimes … these crimes must be punished, and Russian war criminals must know that they will never be safe,” Kuzan said. (The Guardian/Z-3)
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