Translation of the text in the picture: Russian Military Deployment in the Statelet of “Mali”.
Summary of Russian Expansion:
1. Replacing Wagner Units after the Wagner Private Military Group withdraws from Mali, Official Russian Forces will take over Its Mission.
2. New Force: The Russian Ministry of Defense’s “Russian Africa Legion” (Regular Army) will begin deploying to Mali.
4. Advance Planning: Russian military equipment from the Ministry of Defense arrived in Mali in January 2025, five months before Wagner’s withdrawal, indicating long-term planning.
5. Scope of Deployment: The new Russian Legion will operate not only in Mali, but also in Burkina Faso, Libya, the Central African Republic, and Niger.
6. Objective: This legion will replace the previous Wagner units and will work to protect Russia’s interests on the African continent.
In short, Russia is replacing the Wagner Group with regular forces affiliated with its Ministry of Defense (led by Yevkurov) in Mali and several other African countries. Preparations for this transition have been underway since early 2025 to maintain its influence in the region.
Activist
Boubacar Ag Akhmadou
Saturday, June 6, 2025
Wagner has officially declared that they are leaving Mali. But ts only “cosmetic”. As long as the Africa Corps are there, means Russia has interest in Mali and Azawad. Changing Wagner for Africa Corps does not change much…not for the people in Azawad who have been longtime suffering the genocide by the Malian junta, and since 2021 with the help of Wagner and Turkish drones.
But there might be one tiny glimmer of hope – in that the Africa Corps are directly responsible to the Russian Ministry of Defense, and since the idea of the change is an attempt to “polish up” the bad reputation caused by Wagner´s extreme atrocities and violations of human rights.
In the name of protecting Russia´s interests there might be a bit less of that. Let´s hope so, for the sake of the innocent civilian people. Another thing – at the same time, they now leave the Malian junta in an unenviable position and apparently Turkey refuses to supply Mali with drone ammunition…
But Wagner’s propaganda announcement on Telegram is a big lie insofar as they claim to have helped Mali fight the “terrorists” and to have killed many “terrorists and their leaders”.
We know the said “terrorists” they claim to have fought are the civilian Azawadian population. The real terrorists are not much targeted at all. They roam free in the center and the south and have no problem with drone attacks and the like. The drone attacks only kill civilans. Azawadian civilians!
Neither did the Wagners mention Azawad or the battle of Tinzawatene…their biggest defeat ever in Africa.
So…it´s purely bureaucratic, a strategic repositioning, – a change in form, not function, and as long as Africa Corps are in Mali.
It`s an attempt to consolidate its influence in the Sahel through “legalized” tools. Wagner was the fore-runner, Africa Corps are the ones to complete the establishment of a Russian presence in the Sahel.
The brutality will continue, we just hope for it to be less… but it´s probably a hope in vain, at least for now, because the Africa Corps did already start to kill. They killed a young man on 06-06-25 in Anefis, Azawad.
Ironically…when it comes to the Wagner Group now officially announcing their departure from Mali is that the Malian authorities still has not formally acknowledged that they are there in the first place…
Bamako who publicly, as seen in videos, officially denied the presence of Wagner in Mali, are now proven to be liars by Wagner/Russia itself. Even though it has also been proven earlier in a Russian video.
As long as the junta doesn’t negotiate autonomy for the north, it means that Azawad is its primary objective, and the Russians will work to conquer it. Russia and Turkey needs to stop engaging with Mali on the Azawad issue.
There will never be any peace or development in the area unless Azawad gets their rights to self-determination that they have been fighting for since 1963.
Independence for Azawad!
There`s certainly more to come…
UPDATE 06-11-25
Three days after the decision to withdraw the Wagner Group, the Azawad Liberation Front responded, stating that it had “taken note” of the Russian group’s announcement of the end of its military mission in Mali.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the organization considered the decision to be “a clear recognition of the Malian military junta’s loss of control and sovereignty over the foreign forces working for them, rather than a voluntary withdrawal as it is presented.”
They argue that the Russian Wagner Group’s official announcement is nothing more than media propaganda (we can agree with that) and that in reality the so-called “withdrawal” is nothing more than the replacement of Wagner with another unit, i.e. the Africa Corps, which means that there will be no change in their human rights violations and extreme brutality.
They also stated that it appears that the military junta in Bamako has lost control over the foreign forces operating on its territory.
Azawad Support Group
06-06-25