When the notorious Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries announced its withdrawal from Mali at the beginning of the year, it publicly claimed on social media that its “mission was accomplished.”

However, after three and a half years of conducting counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations, the group’s impact proved catastrophic. Mali, a nation in the Sahel region, continues to be identified as the global epicenter of terrorism.

“Despite its reputation for combat readiness and occasional public declarations of success in Mali, the Wagner Group’s strategy has been plagued by a series of setbacks,” noted the investigative organization The Sentry in an August 27 report.

The Kremlin has since replaced Wagner with its own paramilitary force, the Africa Corps, which operates under the direct control of the Ministry of Defense. According to a July 29 report from the Timbuktu Institute, up to 80% of the Africa Corps’ personnel are former Wagner mercenaries.

“The Africa Corps inherits Wagner’s history of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and acts of torture,” the report highlighted. “These abuses, frequently committed with impunity, foster widespread resentment among certain communities and inadvertently fuel jihadist recruitment by exploiting various grievances.”

Through extensive interviews with Malian military personnel, intelligence agents, and officials from the Ministries of Finance and Mines, The Sentry revealed a deep animosity among Malian soldiers towards the Russians. They reported that Wagner fighters disregarded their chain of command and control, and Malians attributed security lapses and operational errors, leading to significant loss of personnel and equipment, directly to the Russians.

The mercenaries’ brutal tactics and their inconsistent approach to counter-terrorism also failed to secure the trust of the Malian populace.

“Since Wagner’s arrival in Mali, there has been a significant surge in attacks against civilians and civilian casualties, often linked to Malian security forces and their allied militias. Indeed, the Wagner Group employs tactics that indiscriminately target civilians.”

Reports also detail Wagner fighters engaging in sexual violence and mass executions, exemplified by the 2022 Moura massacre, where over 500 civilians were killed, including a minimum of 300 men who were executed.

In early 2023, United Nations experts called for an independent investigation into grave human rights violations and “possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Mali by government forces and the private military contractor known as the Wagner Group.”

The experts stated that since 2021, they had received “persistent and alarming reports of horrific executions, mass graves, acts of torture, rape, and sexual violence.” Numerous requests for investigations in Mali have, to date, yielded no substantive results.

Some soldiers from the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) attributed the Moura massacre to the influence of Russian mercenaries on high-ranking army officers.

One officer told The Sentry: “Without Wagner, there would have been no Moura. Not on such a scale, not with such duration, not as many deaths.”

Malians widely blame the heavy-handed tactics employed by the Russians for triggering a significant increase in recruitment among Tuareg separatist fighters and terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Amadou Koufa, leader of the Katiba Macina, an Islamist militant group linked to Al-Qaeda, stated in a 2024 interview with France24 that the Russians’ brutality had compelled local residents to join the struggle to “defend their religion, their land, and their possessions.”

The Russians have reportedly targeted weddings and funerals with drones, while videos circulating online show Wagner fighters mistreating Tuareg civilians, further exacerbating discontent and fueling recruitment propaganda.

“Local community leaders in central Mali frequently lament that Wagner failed to bring any lasting improvement to the situation in their region,” researchers from the Royal United Services Institute wrote in a January 2025 report.

Wagner suffered a crushing defeat in July 2024 when multiple terrorist groups ambushed a large convoy of vehicles near the Malian village of Tin Zaouatine in the country’s Northeast. Militants claimed to have killed 84 Russian mercenaries and 47 FAMa soldiers.

The relationship between Wagner and the FAMa deteriorated into deep mutual suspicion, according to The Sentry. Russian survivors accused Malian intelligence services of underestimating rebel numbers and abandoning them mid-battle. In retaliation, Malian officers accused the Russians of ignoring command structures, commandeering their vehicles, and openly displaying racist behavior.

“We have fallen from Charybdis into Scylla,” a high-ranking officer confided to The Sentry.

Anger intensified following the September 2024 militant attack on Bamako airport, which resulted in over 100 fatalities. Wagner units were stationed nearby but reportedly delayed their intervention for five hours.

“If you don’t pay them, they don’t move,” an airport guard informed The Sentry.

Charles Cater, Director of Investigations at The Sentry, affirmed that the Wagner Group’s intervention in Mali constitutes a definitive failure.

“Heavy-handed and poorly informed counter-terrorism operations have strengthened alliances among armed groups threatening the state, led to significant battlefield losses for Wagner, and resulted in a greater number of civilian casualties,” he explained. “Ultimately, Wagner’s deployment served neither the interests of the Malian people or military government, nor even the mercenary group itself.”

Justyna Gudzowska, Executive Director of The Sentry, emphasized that Mali’s experience should serve as a cautionary tale.

“As Moscow extends its influence into the Sahel and attempts to rebrand itself with the Africa Corps, it is crucial to understand that Wagner was neither the infallible fighting force nor the effective economic actor it purported to be,” she stated.

“Instead, the Malian example vividly illustrates the group’s dual failure, and this ought to be a clear warning to other potential African clients considering the employment of the Ministry of Defense-backed Africa Corps.”