Articles

Mali: Wagner’s Atrocities, by Paul Martial – 24 December 2025

In Mali, the violence perpetrated by Russian mercenaries against civilian populations unfolds in a climate of total impunity, without condemnation or reaction from the Malian authorities. This strategy of terror is aggravating an already catastrophic security and social situation.

Having come to power through a coup, Assimi Goïta [1] justified his seizure of power by the previous regime’s inability to defeat the jihadists. Nearly five years later, his record is catastrophic, both economically and in terms of security. [2]

Inhumanity

Whilst the religious dimension of the conflict in Mali exists, it should not obscure the social and communal questions. Peace solutions can only be political and developed by the populations themselves. They are urgent, because the longer the conflict drags on, the more acts of violence against civilians increase in quantity and horror.

Numerous reports detail the atrocities committed by Wagner mercenaries. [3] At Tinzaouaten [4], drones bombed the town in reprisal. At Moura, over three days, hundreds of people were executed. [5] The accounts of Malian women refugees in Mauritania speak of mass rape. Journalists from Jeune Afrique infiltrated a Telegram network called “white uncles in Africa 18+”, where videos of executions and torture in centres established within Malian army barracks are sold. Other videos, collected by investigators from the International Criminal Court [6], show scenes of body dismemberment and even acts resembling cannibalism.

Testimonies gathered by human rights organisations describe the burning of villages, looting and theft of inhabitants’ meagre possessions. They also report kidnappings with ransom demands. The main victims are Malians from the Fulani [7] or Tuareg [8] communities, wrongly accused of being jihadist accomplices.

Deleterious effects

From the very beginning of Wagner’s intervention in December 2021, evidence has mounted of crimes against humanity. The mercenaries appeared to act with complete impunity. The replacement, in 2024, of Wagner by Africa Corps [9], a structure reporting directly to the Russian Ministry of Defence, has unfortunately changed nothing about this dramatic situation, and for good reason: more than 80% of the members of the company founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin [10] were integrated into the new entity. [11]

The abhorrent behaviour of these mercenaries encourages Malian soldiers to commit greater violence against civilians and accentuates divisions, even communal hatreds. Villagers forced to cooperate with the jihadists are considered accomplices by the Malian authorities.

Members of Africa Corps obviously have no interest in seeing the country’s situation improve, for chaos remains a lucrative source of revenue for them.

In practice, Assimi Goïta guarantees total impunity to a foreign private military company that massacres his own compatriots, thereby contradicting his claims to defend Mali’s sovereignty. [12]

Notes

[1] Assimi Goïta (born 1983) seized power in Mali through two successive military coups in August 2020 and May 2021. He currently serves as President of the Transition and Head of State.

[2] On the situation in Mali and the Sahel, see Paul Martial, “Breaking Out of the Militaristic Impasse in the Sahel”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, August 2024. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article75992

[3] The Wagner Group was a Russian private military company founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin and closely linked to the Kremlin. It operated in numerous conflict zones across Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine before Prigozhin’s death in August 2023.

[4] Tinzaouaten is a town in northern Mali near the Algerian border where, in July 2024, Wagner/Africa Corps mercenaries suffered heavy losses in an ambush by Tuareg and jihadist fighters.

[5] The Moura massacre (27-31 March 2022) was the deadliest single atrocity in Mali’s decade-long conflict. A UN report concluded that at least 500 people were unlawfully executed by the Malian Armed Forces and Wagner Group fighters. At least 58 women and girls also suffered sexual violence.

[6] The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation into the situation in Mali in January 2013, covering alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since January 2012.

[7] The Fulani (also known as Peul or Fula) are a predominantly pastoralist ethnic group spread across West Africa. In Mali’s conflict, Fulani communities have been disproportionately targeted by both security forces and ethnic militias, accused of harbouring jihadist sympathies.

[8] The Tuareg are a Berber nomadic people inhabiting the Sahara, including northern Mali. Some Tuareg groups have fought for independence or autonomy, whilst others have allied with jihadist movements.

[9] Africa Corps is the Russian military structure that replaced the Wagner Group following Prigozhin’s death in 2023. Unlike Wagner, it operates under direct control of the Russian Ministry of Defence. More than 80% of former Wagner personnel were integrated into the new entity.

[10] Yevgeny Prigozhin (1961-2023) was a Russian oligarch and founder of the Wagner Group. He died in a plane crash in August 2023, two months after leading a brief mutiny against Russian military leadership.

[11] On Russia’s expanding role in Africa, see “Return of Geopolitical Competition in Africa”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, 2025. Available at: https://europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article76301

[12] On the broader situation of military juntas in the Sahel, see “Two Years After the Coup: What Assessment of Niger’s Military Regime?”, Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières, 2025. Available at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article75915

Paul Martial is an editor of Afriques en Lutte.

This article first appeared in French in L’Anticapitaliste. It was translated into English for Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières by Adam Novak.

, , , , , , ,
Views: 2
More content from this blog
, , , , , , ,