How defeat in Mali raises doubts about Russia’s Wagner in Africa

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How defeat in Mali raises doubts about Russia’s Wagner in *******

STORY: At the end of July, the bodies of dozens of mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group lay in the sand of Mali’s desert.

:: Near Tinzaouaten, Mali

They were ******* in a battle with Tuareg rebels during a sandstorm near the town of Tinzaouaten on the Algerian border.

It was a heavy defeat, which analysis has now revealed involved seasoned Russian war veterans.

:: Near Aguelhok, Mali

:: July 2024

That shines a spotlight on the dangers for Russian mercenaries who may have thought that an ******* posting was an easy assignment.

And it also casts doubt, analysts say, on Moscow’s ability to do any better against separatists and powerful offshoots of Al Qaeda and Islamic State than the Western powers recently expelled by juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and ******.

:: Bamako, Mali

:: File

Jedrzej Czerep, an analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, described the defeat as the biggest Wagner has ever suffered in *******.

“They were still under the impression that it was essentially an easy ******. They captured Kidal, the northern town in Mali, last year with no ****** actually, so they underestimated the quality of the Tuareg fighters that they were facing.”

:: Near Tinzaouaten, Mali

Now, through a combination of publicly available information, interviews with relatives and facial recognition software, Reuters has identified 23 fighters missing in action and two now held in Tuareg captivity.

Among them are veterans who had toured in Ukraine, Libya and Syria.

Several had survived the siege of Bakhmut in Ukraine, which Wagner’s late founder Yevgeny Prigozhin called a “meat grinder.”

:: PMC Wagner via Telegram

:: File

After Prigozhin ***** in August last year, Wagner employees were invited to join a new group.

:: Bangui, Central ******** Republic

:: File

In the ******* Corps, under the defense ministry, recruits could, quote, “****** for justice and the interests of Russia.”

Wagner’s enterprises on the continent have previously involved protecting coup leaders, fighting jihadists and gold mining.

Ladd Serwat, an ******* specialist at the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, said civilian fatalities since Wagner formally became ******* Corps have been “incredibly high.”

“Those have escalated in Mali beyond those that we saw under the leadership of Prigozhin’s.”

:: Niamey, ******

:: File

ACLED data shows violent events linked to Russian mercenaries rose 81% and reported civilian fatalities rose 65% over the past year, compared to the year before Prigozhin’s ******.

Czerep says ******* Corps has also conducted a “massive” recruitment drive.

“And that created this feeling that this was the best opportunity that mercenaries have to be on the safe side, to earn some money, and also to experience this tropical adventure. It may be ironic, but it seems like it’s a holiday type of experience.”

:: File

Tuareg rebels, who are fighting for an independent homeland, say they ******* 84 Russians and 47 members of Mali’s armed forces in the Battle of Tinzaouaten.

Grisly footage of ***** fighters has since circulated online.

Some relatives say the bodies of their husbands and sons have been abandoned in the desert.

Lyubov Bazhenova said she was ****** with Wagner for sharing no information about the fate of her son Vladimir Akimov, or the whereabouts of his body.

Margarita Goncharova said her son, Vadim Evsiukov had served in Ukraine, but had struggled with survivor’s guilt and secretly travelled to ******* in April to join his former commander.

One of the most experienced men was Alexander Lazarev, who served in wars against Chechen separatists in the 1990s and 2000s according to his wife’s posts in a Wagner channel on the social media app Telegram.

:: Tabankort, Mali

:: File

Wagner has acknowledged heavy losses in the Mali ambush but gave no figure. The Malian army also did not give a ****** toll.

The Russian Ministry of Defense, Foreign Ministry and Wagner, did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

A spokesman for the Tuareg rebels said their aim is not to harm anyone and that they don’t have a problem with Russia, but that it is Russia that has “invited itself into problems that don’t concern it.”

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