In the ancient city of Kidal, deep in Mali’s troubled north, Russian flags fly openly now. Paramilitaries in sandy fatigues, identifiable by their distinctive insignia and their heavily armed convoys of white Toyota Hilux pickups, patrol streets that once bustled with Tuareg traders. Their presence was meant to bring security. Instead, it has brought a different kind of fear.
“We do not feel safe,” a local teacher told The Africa Report in an extensive investigation published this week. “Before, we feared the jihadists. Now we fear everyone. The jihadists, the army, and these Russians. There is no place to breathe.”
A Paper Tiger That Burns Villages
The Russia Africa Corps — the rebranded successor to the notorious Wagner Group — arrived in Mali following a bilateral security agreement signed with the ruling junta. France, whose Barkhane forces had spent nearly a decade fighting the same jihadist insurgencies across the Sahel, was unceremoniously expelled. Russia moved in with characteristic speed.
Africa on the Record spoke with more than forty residents of Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu provinces. Their testimony describes summary executions of suspected informants, the burning of villages without warning, and the arbitrary detention of men who simply disappeared.
The Jihadist Resurgence
The grim irony of the Russia intervention is that it has failed to achieve its primary stated objective: the defeat of Islamist insurgent groups including JNIM. Civilian casualties from jihadist attacks have actually increased since Africa Corps took the lead on ground operations, according to ACLED data. JNIM has exploited the power vacuum left by France’s departure and the chaos introduced by Russia’s approach.
The International Community Looks Away
The crisis in Mali has received a fraction of the international attention devoted to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA was expelled by the junta in 2023. Meanwhile, the people of Mali continue to bury their dead and wonder when the guns will fall silent.