Russia’s African Corps Accused of Atrocities Against Civilians in Mali – AP
Russia’s newly created African Corps, deployed to Mali after the decline of the Wagner Group, is being accused of a growing list of atrocities against civilians.
The Gaze reports this, referring to testimonies gathered by the Associated Press from dozens of people who escaped the violence.
The African Corps was sent to Mali earlier this year after the ruling military junta deepened its military cooperation with Moscow.
Following the withdrawal and partial disintegration of Wagner after its leadership collapse, the Kremlin formalised a new structure under the Ministry of Defence and redeployed hundreds of personnel and equipment to Mali at the junta’s request, presenting the mission as counterterrorism assistance. In reality, witnesses say, the unit has continued Wagner’s practices, and in some cases intensified them.
Refugees told AP that Russian fighters, operating jointly with Malian troops, have abducted civilians, executed people without trial, committed rapes, and carried out beheadings while conducting operations against extremist groups. Several displaced residents showed AP videos of entire villages burned to the ground by “white men” accompanying Malian soldiers.
One survivor described the brutality as entirely indiscriminate. “This is scorched-earth warfare. They do not speak to anyone. They shoot anyone they see. No warnings, no questions. People don’t even understand why they are being killed,” he said.
Other witnesses reported finding relatives’ bodies with organs removed. A refugee named Bokar said nothing has changed despite the new branding: “Only the name is different. The uniforms, the vehicles, the men – they are the same. The methods have remained, only worse. That’s why we fled again.”
Legal analysts interviewed by AP noted that, unlike Wagner, which Moscow often portrayed as an independent entity, the African Corps is an official arm of the Russian Ministry of Defence. This means Russia bears direct state responsibility for any crimes committed by its personnel.
The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to AP’s request for comment. The allegations surface while Mali is grappling with a worsening fuel crisis that has crippled food distribution, transportation and schooling.
If the reported abuses are confirmed, this would amount to state-sponsored war crimes, directly implicating Moscow rather than a proxy group – and deepening Mali’s humanitarian crisis.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Russia’s expanding footprint in Central Africa, where groups linked to the former Wagner PMC have taken control of major gold mining sites. Their presence in the Central African Republic has been marked by violence and coercion, with the group seizing billion-dollar deposits in 2021 and aggressively defending them ever since.
Read more on The Gaze: The Great Realignment: How the War in Ukraine Reshaped the Global South