Russia Sends Large Shipment of Military Equipment, Including BMP-3 IFVs, to Mali

A Russian vessel under U.S. sanctions delivered a large shipment of military equipment to Mali amid an offensive by rebel forces.

This was reported in a BBC investigation.

Footage broadcast by Malian state television on July 25 showed the arrival of a large convoy of armored vehicles in the capital, Bamako. The equipment included BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, Tigr armored vehicles, and Chinese VP11 armored vehicles.

The U.S.-sanctioned Russian cargo vessel Mikhail Britnev docked in Lomé on July 9.

Satellite imagery indicates that the vessel was carrying the same equipment later seen in Bamako.

Ship tracking data shows that the Mikhail Britnev departed the Russian port of Baltiysk on June 18 and sailed through the North Sea before entering the English Channel.

According to BBC Verify, the vessel was accompanied through the English Channel by a Project 775-class landing ship. Mikhail Britnev was sanctioned by the United States in 2024.

The BBC noted that the port of Baltiysk served as a transit hub for several vessels that exported military equipment to Africa.

The cargo vessel Sabetta was tracked after loading what was likely military equipment at the port in February.

It later docked in Conakry, Guinea — a port long associated with Russian arms deliveries to its regional allies in West Africa.

Another bulk carrier that did not appear in ship tracking data was also observed loading military equipment in Baltiysk on June 6.

The deliveries indicate increased Kremlin support for Mali’s ruling junta, which has faced growing pressure amid an offensive by rebel forces led by the jihadist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and Tuareg fighters.

As a result of the offensive, rebels captured significant territory in the north of the country.

It was previously reported that Russia’s Africa Corps abandoned Malian junta forces on the battlefield, leading to significant losses among Malian troops.