Russian Military Crimes in Mali Highlight Propensity for Sadism and Atrocities by Russian Expeditionary Groups

Russia continues to commit war crimes on the African continent. We previously analyzed numerous incidents of violence, extrajudicial killings, and rapes perpetrated by Wagner Group mercenaries in the Central African Republic.

In late July, 84 Russian Wagner Group mercenaries were killed in northern Mali during clashes with Tuareg rebels from the CSP-PSD. Following this defeat, footage from the mobile phone of one of the deceased Russian mercenaries surfaced on social media, depicting the brutal murder of Malian civilians, who were hacked to death with axes. According to our sources within the journalistic community operating in the region, Russian mercenaries often resort to such executions to extract information about rebels and interrogate locals suspected of collaborating with anti-government forces.

A similar extrajudicial killing by the Wagner Group was first documented in Syria in 2017, when mercenaries beheaded Syrian Mohammed Taha Ismail Al-Abdullah, dismembered his body, and then set it on fire. We are convinced that the Wagner Group has received authorization from the governments of the African countries in which they operate to employ such methods against the local population.

Thus, extrajudicial killings and acts of violence occur with the consent of local authorities. This corroborates our previous conclusions about Russia’s colonial policies in Africa.

We also believe that the level of brutality by Russians in Africa will not diminish with the replacement of the Wagner Group by the “African Legion.” Consequently, the invitation of Russian private military companies to African nations will continue to be associated with violence and cruelty toward the local populace. At the same time, the effectiveness of the Russians in combating rebel groups in Mali and the Central African Republic remains extremely low, and the high level of sadism and brutality confirms our previous findings regarding the proclivity for war crimes and the low moral standards of the Russians.