A coalition of Tuareg rebels operating in northern Mali, known as the "Strategic Framework for the Protection of the People of Azawad" (CSP-DPA), announced on July 27 that they had successfully defeated a group of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner PMC. These mercenaries have been supporting the official government in Bamako in an ongoing conflict that has spanned several years. The rebels claim to have obliterated the Russian column, killing dozens of Wagner fighters and capturing prisoners, armored vehicles, and fuel tankers near the country's northeastern border, close to the Algerian town of Tinzaouatene.

Two days later, Russian Telegram channels close to Wagner PMC confirmed the defeat. While the exact casualty figures remain disputed, the sources acknowledge that this represents Wagner's largest defeat outside the Russian-Ukrainian frontlines since February 2018, when US Army helicopters decimated a similar column near the Syrian city of Hasham.

Among the confirmed dead is Nikita Fedyanin, the author of the popular (with over half a million subscribers) Telegram channel Grey Zone, which often discusses Wagner operations. Since February 20, the channel has published multiple posts about Wagner's offensive in northeastern Mali, with the latest post featuring mercenaries posing in front of a "Typhoon" armored vehicle.

On February 28, Russian propaganda outlet RT reported that Fedyanin had sent the outlet photographs suggesting that the Tuareg separatists were being advised by Ukrainian military intelligence from the Defense Ministry's Main Directorate (GUR). At least two such groups were allegedly training the rebels in using reconnaissance and combat drones. RT published only one photograph showing a fighter with a covered face and a Ukrainian insignia in front of a helicopter.

The Kyiv Post revealed another photograph the following day, depicting armed men with flags of the unrecognized Tuareg state of Azawad and Ukraine. Several men were not wearing traditional Tuareg headscarves and, according to the Kyiv Post's sources, could have been Ukrainian soldiers, albeit with their faces carefully concealed. Various accounts on the X social network, likely associated with Azawad's armed rebels, congratulated the Ukrainians and even offered to transfer captured Wagner mercenaries to Kyiv, also expressing gratitude for the drones from Ukraine's National Guard brigade "Khartia."

Eventually, Andrei Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s GUR, acknowledged the intelligence service's involvement in the attack on Wagner forces in Mali. "The rebels received vital information and more, enabling them to conduct a successful military operation against these Russian war criminals," Yusov said on Monday, July 29.

Official diplomatic relations between Kyiv and Bamako date back to 1992. However, interactions have been sporadic, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry website . The duties of the diplomatic representative in Mali were officially performed by Ukraine's ambassador in Algeria. The trade turnover between the two countries was also minimal—about $41 million in 2021, as per Ukraine's State Statistics Committee. Although the governments of the two countries attempted to conclude a military-technical cooperation agreement between 2012-2019, they only exchanged drafts of the document.

Nonetheless, Ukrainian military and civilian specialists have worked under the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). In 2016, the company "Ukrainian Helicopters," which leases aircraft from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, reported on its work with the mission’s air ambulance team. In 2019, a Ukrainian military contingent, comprising up to 20 personnel and six MI-8 helicopters, officially joined MINUSMA. These detachments, however, left the West African country in 2023 following the mission's wind-down.

Since then, there has been no reported Ukrainian military presence in Mali. "We need some time to analyze and truly confirm who is behind the attacks on the Malian army and the Russian groups claiming to be there to help Mali against the growing threat. Nevertheless, I believe Ukraine and its allies are dynamic in making efforts to undermine Russia and weaken it economically," says Jean François Marie Camara, researcher and lecturer at the University of Legal Sciences in Bamako.

MINUSMA, which included Bundeswehr soldiers, was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 2013 to support a fragile peace between the government and Tuareg rebels and counter jihadist groups associated with "Al-Qaeda" and "ISIS." However, the military junta that took power in Mali after a 2021 coup insisted that UN peacekeepers leave the country, officially winding down the mission in June 2023. The coalition of Tuareg rebels condemned this move, interpreting it as the junta's intention to halt peaceful conflict resolution, and renewed their armed struggle for Azawad’s independence.

To combat CSP-DPA and jihadist groups from the West African coalition "Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin" (JNIM), the Malian junta, led by Colonel Assimi Goïta, decided to enlist the Wagner PMC—a well-known organization in the region that has operated in neighboring Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea, and other countries. Wagner works in Africa on behalf of private mining companies, including those of Russian origin, and official governments, assisting in counter-insurgency efforts.

International humanitarian organizations and Western intelligence have frequently accused Russian mercenaries of brutal crackdowns on civilians in African countries.

After Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin's failed rebellion, local Wagner units came under the Russian Ministry of Defense’s control as part of the so-called "African Corps." By fall 2023, mediated by Russia, the juntas of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger created a military confederation known as the Sahel States Alliance, officially battling jihadist groups in the region.

In recent years, Ukrainian military intelligence has also joined the list of Wagner PMC's adversaries in Africa. "We conduct such operations aimed at reducing Russian military potential wherever possible. Why should Africa be an exception?" Kirill Budanov, head of the GUR, said in April during a conversation with The Washington Post. He first disclosed details of a fall 2023 special operation on the other side of the African continent, in Sudan.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Kyiv was asked for help by the chairman of the country's Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan—an initial group of around 100 GUR fighters assisted in his evacuation from the capital, Khartoum, besieged by "Rapid Support Forces" fighters, once pro-government militia largely made up of Arab-origin citizens, known as "Janjaweed."

Wagner PMC had cooperated with Janjaweed since at least 2020 when militants from both groups seized the al-Sharara oil field in neighboring Libya. Sudanese rebels and even the official armed forces were poorly motivated and trained, requiring not only modern weaponry but also instructions. Throughout the fall, Ukrainian units focused on disrupting Sudanese rebels' logistics, bombing routes into Khartoum, and conducting night drone attacks. "Our goal was never to hunt down individual Wagner soldiers. The aim was to disrupt Russian interests in Sudan," a Ukrainian intelligence officer told The Wall Street Journal.

In 2023-2024, GUR commented on Wagner's presence in other African countries, preemptively warning of potential provocations and the likely appearance of Western weapons captured by Russians in Ukraine. However, after Sudan, Ukrainian intelligence had never directly confirmed involvement in ground operations. "If Ukrainian involvement in Mali is proven, it can be said that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is not confined to Ukrainian territory and is expanding to other regions, particularly Africa," observed Nina Wilén, director of African programs at the Egmont Institute.

  War in Ukraine, Tuareg rebels, Wagner Group, Mali

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