Russia claims Africa Corps prevented coup in Mali after insurgents seize town

Russia's Defence Ministry has claimed that the Africa Corps—the successor to the Wagner mercenary group—prevented a coup in Mali over the weekend, avoiding mass civilian casualties and causing 'irreparable losses' to rebel forces.

In a statement, the Russian Defence Ministry said its forces in the desert town of Kidal near the Algerian border fought for over 24 hours while completely surrounded and outnumbered. Moscow also alleged, without providing evidence, that the fighters had been trained by European mercenary instructors, including Ukrainians. Casualty figures were not disclosed.

Contradicting Russia's account, local reports on Monday indicated that Africa Corps soldiers had negotiated a withdrawal, with Algeria acting as mediator.

Over the weekend, rebel forces in Mali drove the Africa Corps out of Kidal, launched an attack near the capital Bamako, and killed Defence Minister Sadio Camara—a close Moscow ally—in a suicide bombing.

Separately on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that restoring peace and stability in Mali was a top priority.

The fall of Kidal—a city Russian forces first helped the military junta recapture in 2023—and the transfer of territory to the rebel alliance is seen as evidence of the limits of Moscow's military influence in West Africa.

French state radio RFI quoted an unnamed Malian official as saying the governor of Kidal had warned the Africa Corps about the attack three days before it occurred and that their withdrawal was pre-negotiated. 'The Russians betrayed us in Kidal,' the official said.

Mali has been mired in violence on multiple fronts since 2012 after a rebellion launched by Tuareg insurgents. The security crisis reached a new peak last Saturday after separatists and jihadists linked to al-Qaida joined forces to launch coordinated attacks, dealing a major blow to the country's military junta and its Russian allies.

In recent years, Russia has infiltrated the Sahel, the semi-desert belt stretching across several countries including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. All three have experienced military coups, with French and UN forces expelled and replaced by Russian support as the juntas sought to consolidate power and deal with long-running jihadist and separatist insurgencies.

About 2,000 Russian troops are deployed in landlocked Mali under the Africa Corps banner, the successor to the Wagner group across Africa. Pro-Defence Ministry military bloggers earlier said a Russian helicopter was shot down near Gao, killing everyone on board.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show Russian soldiers fighting rebels, with one clip showing rebels seizing Russian military weapons. Residents of neighbourhoods inside and outside Bamako also said they had seen jihadist fighters from the al-Qaida-linked Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) moving freely over recent days.

Analysts such as Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at the Bamako-based Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung foundation, said Russia might change tactics in the short term and move south. 'I think the Russians will focus on protecting the government and leave the north to the rebels,' he told the Guardian.

Peskov told reporters that Moscow had no information on the whereabouts of Assimi Goïta, the military leader who overthrew Mali's civilian government in the 2020 coup and assumed office within a year, but who has not been seen publicly since the unrest. Mali's presidency posted a photo of him meeting Russian ambassador Igor Gromyko on X on Tuesday afternoon, in a meeting said to have taken place that day.

However, that did little to quell speculation about Goïta's future as military leader and reports of factionalism within the junta. 'Goïta has lost ground … he no longer has political credibility with the military junta,' a former Malian diplomat, speaking anonymously, told the Guardian.