Destruction of Wagner Group in Mali could lead to withdrawal of some Russian forces from Ukraine
Illustrative photo (photo: Getty Images)
Following the recent losses sustained by the Wagner Group in Mali, the Kremlin will need to undertake a large-scale replacement of its mercenaries in Africa with soldiers from the Russian Defense Ministry's African Corps. Meanwhile, part of this corps has recently been redeployed to the Kharkiv region to support the offensive actions of the occupying forces, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Several prominent Russian military bloggers critical of the Kremlin claim that the Russian Defense Ministry is taking pleasure in the Wagner Group's losses and suggest that the Russian military leadership may use this incident as a pretext to halt the deployment of Wagner mercenaries in the Sahel and fully replace them with units from the African Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Some Russian bloggers have cited an unnamed source within Putin's administration indicating that the personnel of the African Corps will replace Wagner forces across the Sahel Trio (Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger).
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) speculates that the African Corps may currently lack the capacity to adequately replace the Wagner Group, especially in Mali, as elements of the corps were recently deployed to Ukraine to participate in offensive operations in the northern Kharkiv region.
"Supplanting Wagner at scale following losses such as those accrued in the recent ambush would likely involve re-deploying some Africa Corps fighters to Mali away from the frontline in Ukraine, and the Russian military command likely does not see completely supplanting Wagner in Mali or elsewhere in the Sahel as a priority effort at this time," the ISW report states.
On July 27, Tuareg rebels from the CSP-PSD movement showcased photos and videos of a destroyed Wagner convoy in Mali. The fighting took place in the town of Tinzauaten near the Mali-Algeria border on July 25 and 26. At least 20 Wagner fighters were killed, and those who survived the battle were taken prisoner.
The Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has announced the continuation of successful actions against Russian war criminals from the Wagner Group in Africa.
