December 12, 2025

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New Name, Same Brutality: Russian Mercenaries Committing Atrocities in Mali

(AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov, Pool)

The Wagner Group, a Russian private military company notorious for its brutality, departed the Sahelian country of Mali six months ago and was replaced by the Africa Corps, a mercenary outfit more closely tied to the Kremlin. Moscow focused its attention on developing the Africa Corps after a failed mutiny by Wagner’s former leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who, along with one of Wagner’s leaders, Dmitri Utkin, died in a plane crash that most analysts believe was engineered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But even though the name has changed, the behaviors have remained mainly the same. Troops have to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the organization is run by Putin’s inner circle, comprised of current and former high-ranking military and intelligence officials.

Recent reporting from the Associated Press points to atrocities being committed by the Africa Corps as it works alongside the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) to battle a range of jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Locals in Mali have reported that civilians have been beheaded, raped, and disemboweled by Africa Corps fighters operating in the country. Journalists and aid workers have been prevented from entering various parts of Mali. Still, the reporting so far has demonstrated that between the transition from Wagner to Africa Corps, the group has maintained its brand, practicing extreme levels of violence, including burning villages to the ground. There are approximately 2,000 Africa Corps members deployed to Mali currently, with the group sourcing its fighters from Russia, Belarus, and Africa. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has attenuated Russia’s bandwidth, and it will likely need to rely more on Africa Corps in the future, especially as Moscow seeks to fill the power vacuum left by the drawdown of U.S. and French troops in the region. According to the Timbuktu Institute, a think tank based in Senegal, approximately 70-80 percent of Africa Corps fighters previously fought under the Wagner Group banner. Many Russians join for the financial benefits, while some others seem to revel in the impunity with which they can inflict violence on civilians, using tactics eerily reminiscent of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Coup leaders and military juntas have employed Africa Corps to safeguard their respective regimes, but from a counterinsurgency standpoint, much of what the Russians have done is highly counterproductive, exacerbating instability and pushing locals into the arms of groups like Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP). For the Africa Corps, and for Russian political and military leadership, the actions of its forces are something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The violence and chaos that the Africa Corps inflicts make Mali less safe, which the Africa Corps then uses as further evidence of the need for its services. Recent operations have been centered around parts of northern Mali, in areas adjacent to or co-located with gold mines. Not only is the Africa Corps brutal in its approach, but arguably, its fighters have been ineffective in quelling the jihadists’ continued advance. In early November, a JNIM offensive brought the group to the brink of capturing Mali’s capital, Bamako.

According to the Armed Conflict and Event Location Database (ACLED), an independent global conflict monitor, more than 5,000 civilians have been killed in Mali since 2023, with nearly half of these attacks involving Russian mercenaries. Photos of the atrocities committed by the Africa Corps have spread across various Telegram channels linked to the organization. Similar to the Wagner Group, the Africa Corps conducts both kinetic and non-kinetic operations, including propaganda and influence operations. In late summer, members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — which is comprised of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger — traveled to Moscow to sign an agreement with the Kremlin, which is likely to keep Africa Corps troops entrenched in the region. Still, there have been reports of growing tensions between Africa Corps fighters and the Malian military, which has been disappointed with Africa Corps’ performance on the battlefield and its inconsistency in conducting effective operations that push back the insurgents from strategic areas.

Overall, security in the Sahel continues to deteriorate, as violent non-state actors take over larger swaths of territory. Recent fighting between JNIM and ISSP will only take a further toll on civilians. If the groups engage in outbidding, it could lead to an uptick in spectacular attacks, including, potentially, external operations. The U.S. State Department has already upgraded Mali to a “Level 4 Do Not Travel” country, indicative of the continued deterioration of the security situation. Kidnappings have surged, and there is growing concern that the current government — as bad as it is — could collapse altogether and usher in yet another state ruled by jihadist governance. If that happens, there could be a multi-directional spillover throughout the rest of the Sahel, in countries like Burkina Faso and Niger, and westward to the West African littoral coast. Violence has already spread to Benin and Togo, with the former experiencing a coup attempt earlier this week. Countries that have been considered stable, including Ghana and the Ivory Coast, could soon find themselves in the crosshairs of jihadist groups.