Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop (D) welcomed his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to Bamako.
Last year, Mali turned its back on former colonial power France, preferring help from Russia.
This is the Foreign Minister’s second visit to Africa in two weeks.
Russia is seeking to bolster its allies as the war in Ukraine continues, but its engagement in West Africa predates that war and has grown over time.
Lavrov, who is on a two-day trip to Mali, stressed Moscow’s ambition to provide military support to West African governments in the fight once morest Islamist militants.
Mali’s military government has pushed back once morest criticism of the move to Russia.
“We will no longer justify our choice of partner. Russia is there at Mali’s request and responds effectively to our strategic needs,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said during a joint press briefing with his Russian counterpart.
It has now been more than a year since Wagner Group fighters began operating in Mali, although authorities have never formally confirmed this.
But everything suggests that they have not had more success than the other forces in the face of the jihadist threat that has been raging for a decade and that insecurity may have worsened.
Civilian casualties from violence more than doubled in the past year, according to data from crisis-mapping organization Acled Info.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has pledged continued military support to Mali, which has been battling a jihadist insurgency since 2012.
Security in the country
Nevertheless, Mali’s military junta has called reports of deteriorating security in the country “fake news”.
She instead praised Moscow for bolstering Mali’s armed forces by sending heavy military equipment to Bamako on several occasions since the army took power in August 2020.
This equipment includes Sukhoi fighter jets, as well as surveillance and combat helicopters.
Photo credit, Getty Images
Last year, protesters in Mali showed their support for Russia and its President Vladimir Putin.
“The military successes we have achieved over the past two years surpass anything that has been achieved in past decades. Our weapons are the pride of the whole nation,” said Mali’s interim president, Colonel Assimi Goïta. , in an Army Day speech last month. He said people were able to return to their homes, but did not give specific examples.
Yet the presence of Russian mercenaries abruptly ended a decade of efforts by France and its European allies to support Mali’s attempts to counter the jihadists.
Wagner’s deployment was in response to the loss of patience of French forces who had initially made significant progress once morest the militants during their first deployment in 2013.
The ability of the UN peacekeeping mission (Minusma), nearly 18,000 strong, to protect civilians threatens to be weakened with the imminent withdrawal of nearly 3,000 German, British and Ivorian soldiers. and Beninese.
Attacks by branches of the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda have spread over time to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, while militant activity is gradually shifting south towards the Gulf of Guinea.
Success on the social networks
Encouraged by his work in Mali and his success in influencing public opinion, Wagner is making overtures in Burkina Faso – which has seen two military coups in 2022 – and possibly in Ivory Coast.
But concerns have been raised regarding the way Wagner Group fighters operate and the UN has called for investigations into possible war crimes committed by Malian soldiers and mercenaries, which Malian authorities consistently deny.
Rights groups have collected reports of torture, summary executions and sexual assaults during joint counter-insurgency operations dubbed Keletigui, which began in December 2021.
Analysis of ACLED data shows that civilians died in greater numbers than militants during these operations in 2022.
At least 700 people have been killed in incidents involving the mercenaries, mostly in the volatile central regions of Mali.
One of the heaviest tolls was recorded in March 2022, when at least 300 people were reportedly killed during week-long counter-insurgency operations in the central town of Moura.
Survivors told Human Rights Watch that Malian soldiers and “white soldiers speaking a strange language” summarily executed dozens of men.
The army denied these facts and explained that its forces had become stronger thanks to Russian military instructors and equipment.
The Wagner Group – which the United States says was contracted at a cost of $10 million a month – has not commented publicly on its activities in Mali.
On the contrary, the propaganda associated with the mercenaries has inflated their military capabilities, particularly in Mali, and has sought to discredit France and the West.
This propaganda was widely circulated on social media, and pro-Wagner messages gained popularity when shared by Malian pressure groups who staged protests calling for increased cooperation with Moscow.
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin hailed the propaganda campaigns as “the new era of decolonization”, exploiting long-standing distrust of the former colonial power of France.
Individuals and organizations attempting to scrutinize Russia’s and Wagner’s influence operations have come under attack, leading some to fear for their safety.
Last March, Mali banned broadcasts by French state media RFI and France 24 over their reporting of alleged atrocities committed by Wagner and the Malian military. The government accused them of “sowing hatred and attributing an ethnic aspect to the insecurity in Mali”.
Prominent activist Aminata Dicko was forced into hiding last week following pro-junta activists accused her of lacking patriotism for describing alleged atrocities committed by Wagner’s army and mercenaries as she addressed the United Nations Security Council.
Last weekend, the junta then expelled the Minusma human rights official for allegedly collaborating with Ms Dicko. Authorities trumpeted military gains, but the total number of deaths from violence increased between 2021 (1,913 deaths) and 2022 (4,803 deaths).
Last month, Mali’s health and social development ministry said humanitarian needs had increased by 17% compared to 2022 due to massive displacement caused by militant violence.
In addition, growing statements by Wagner and the Malian military regarding civilian casualties gave militant groups ammunition to mount retaliatory attacks and expand recruitment.
About a third of propaganda statements released by the al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM in 2022 explicitly mentioned the Wagner Group as a target or used its presence to justify attacks on the military.
His IS-linked rivals also said they killed 15 mercenaries and shot down a drone belonging to the Wagner Group.
Despite these concerns, Russian and Wagner aid to Mali looks set to continue.
During his visit to Mali, Lavrov described how “Russian aviation equipment” has been used to “carry out operations once morest terrorists in recent times”.
But perhaps more importantly, he hinted that Russia might help other countries in the region to deal with a similar jihadist threat, saying that “this concerns Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad, as well as the Sahel region in general and even the coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea”.
Amid Russia’s international isolation following its invasion of Ukraine, it’s a friendship that can only blossom.