Wagner leaves Mali and returns to Russia

The Russian private military company Wagner has announced the completion of its mission in Mali after more than three and a half years of presence in the country.

The statement was published on the page of the Telegram channel associated with the PMC – “Razgruzka Wagnera”.

The official statement says that the completion of the mission is related to the fulfillment of the main task – the return of all regional capitals of Mali under the control of the “legitimate authorities”.

They also claimed the destruction of thousands of militants and their commanders, as well as assistance to the local military in forming a strong and disciplined army.

The Russian PMC’s activities in Mali began in 2021 after a coup d’état in the country, during which Colonel Assimi Goïta came to power.

His position on the presence of French forces and international peacekeeping forces in the country was negative, which led to the withdrawal of French forces from the country in 2022.

Subsequently, in August 2023, Goïta initiated the withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) from Mali, which was another step in strengthening his power and cooperation with Russia.

Instead, he enlisted the support of the Russian government and the private military company Wagner.

Although this decision was sharply criticized by the international community due to accusations of human rights violations and the growth of anti-French sentiment among the population, the PMC began to operate actively in the country.

The activities of Colonel Goïta’s troops and the Wagner PMC were primarily aimed at several armed groups, including two associated with Islamist terrorists, namely: Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).

At the same time, fighting resumed with the Tuareg rebel group Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA). The ceasefire, which lasted from 2015 to 2021, ceased to be in effect due to violations of its terms by the new government and the activities of the PMC.

Due to the active confrontation with the Wagner PMC, Security Service of Ukraine supported the Tuareg by improving their training and teaching them how to use drones. This led to several serious defeats for Wagner in 2024.

First of all, in July 2024, as a result of a battle between junta troops supported by Wagner militants and the CSP-PSD group near the city of Tin Zaouaten in Mali, dozens of militants and a well-known propagandist, senior commander of the Wagner Group Anton Elizarov, known by the call sign “Lotus,” as well as an influential propagandist with the call sign “White,” who took an active part in the war against Ukraine, were killed.

At the same time, the enemy lost about a dozen vehicles, including Chinese MRAP VP11 armored vehicles. According to Russian Telegram channels, the Malian rebels managed to shoot down two Russian helicopters, one of which crashed and the other made an emergency landing.

Later it became known that the rebels had received information and everything necessary for the successful conduct of that operation from the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in advance.