A name change, but no objective. After three years of presence in Mali, the Russian mercenaries of the Wagner group fold luggage. He passes the relay to Africa Corps, another paramilitary group held more firmly by the Kremlin. This faction, including a first contingent of around 200 Africa Corps paramilitaries had been dispatched to Bamako in December 2024, now has more than 1,500 men, according to Western security sources. His mission? Extend the Russian influence in the Sahel, while resuming direct control over operations, after the death of Evgueni Prigojine, founder of Wagner, in August 2023, and his aborted rebellion against the Kremlin.
As a reminder, Mali, a poor country from West Africa led by a junta, is plagued by the actions of jihadist groups. The military in power have moved away from the former Western allies to turn militarily and politically towards Russia. Unlike Wagner, which enjoyed relative autonomy, with more opaque management, Africa Corps is a structure closely supervised by Moscow, whose organization is more rigid and centralized. It is the Russian Minister of Defense who now pilots operations.
Note that several emblematic ex-heads of Wagner have been recycled in this new device: Andreï Ivanov, Ruslan Zaprudsky or even Alexander Kuznetsov, known for their role in the previous theaters of operations in Ukraine, Syria or Libya. According to exchanges on telegram channels frequented by Russian mercenaries, 70 to 80 % of the men from Africa Corps are former Wagner, joined by new younger recruits, who came to fill the losses and strengthen the workforce. In parallel, Russia delivered to Mali in January 2025, more than a hundred military vehicles, including tanks and armored vehicles, to strengthen its military device, according to our colleagues from World.
“No change”
If Wagner had been able to weave direct links with certain Malian soldiers and offered services deemed “flexible and effective”, Africa Corps inspires a certain skepticism. Several Bamakois officers deplore a more rigid device, with more bureaucratic operation. The probable informal financial advantages that circulated under Wagner could also dry up, prudently advances the World. Yet the official message remains unchanged. On his Telegram channel, Friday, June 6, Africa Corps said that Wagner’s departure will not change the Russian presence. His administrators say: LCELA “will not cause any change”, adding that “Russia does not lose ground, but continues, on the contrary, to support Bamako at a more fundamental level”.
For his part, Wagner welcomes his assessment in Mali, believing that he has completed “his main task”, while large sides of the territory remain under the control of jihadist groups. Certainly the militia boasts of having helped to take up the strategic city of Kidal in the north of the country, fallen into the hands of rebel groups, but insecurity still reigns. At the beginning of June, Mali experienced an increase in attacks allocated to the jihadists. After France 24several regions of the country have introduced or extended to fire covers. Sunday, June 1, it was at least 30 soldiers who had been killed in the Boulkessi camp, in the center of the country, in an attack claimed by the support group for Islam and Muslims (Jnim, of its acronym in Arabic).
Even more serious: Wagner has been accused several times of abuses against civilians. International NGOs have documented massacres, arbitrary arrests and acts of torture during operations carried out alongside the Malian forces. Nothing indicates for the moment that the new military version will operate differently. Far from disengaging, the Kremlin takes advantage of this reformatting to anchor its presence in Africa in a more state and lasting setting. After Mali, other countries such as the Central African Republic or Burkina Faso could see Africa Corps gradually replace the old Wagner networks. In Bamako, the banner has changed. But on the ground, the Russian imprint remains.