They were surprised by a sandstorm and the rebels. A painful defeat for the Wagnerists

“The Russian African Corps, consisting mainly of former mercenaries of the Wagner Group, lost several dozen of its men on the Malian-Algerian border. A column of Russian mercenaries and Malian soldiers was attacked by Tuaregs during a sandstorm, who support the creation of an independent state of Azawad (a region in northern Mali),” the BBC's Russian section wrote. It recalled that the facts about the defeat of Russian mercenaries in northern Mali came to light on the night of July 27-28, a week after the resumption of active hostilities in the north of the country, near the border with Algeria.

According to the BBC, Russian pro-Kremlin Telegram channels got their forecasts wrong, predicting “a swift defeat for the Islamic Tuareg separatists who have controlled northern Mali for 12 years.”

READ: Russians in Tuareg Trap. Dozens of Former Wagnerites Could Have Been Killed

On the night of July 25-26, a column of Russian mercenaries began to move towards the city of Tin-Zawatin, located in Algeria. When the Wagners were about two kilometers from the Malian-Algerian border, they were surprised by a sandstorm, and the column's movement was stopped. Then the Taugers launched an attack – the BBC reported. According to the British broadcaster, as a result of fighting with Malian rebels, the Wagner Group suffered its greatest losses since the beginning of its presence in Africa.

Russian mercenaries did not suffer such losses in their long-range operations (excluding those in Ukraine) from the battle of Husham, a city in Syriain the province of Deir ez-Zor. In February 2018, a column of Wagner soldiers was attacked in this place by American attack helicopters – the BBC recalled.

READ: African Empire of Wagnerites. Who Will Take Over Prigozhin's Legacy?

The Wagner Group did not say how many mercenaries died in the fights with the Taugers. A BBC source, once associated with the formation, estimates that at least 80 may have died.

Reuters reported that according to the American intelligence group SITE Intelligence Group, which cited a statement from the local branch of the Islamist organization Al-Qaeda50 Russian mercenaries and 10 Malian soldiers were killed in the ambush.

It is known that the Malian rebels also managed to shoot down at least one Russian Mi-24 helicopter. Among the dead is the administrator of the Grey Zone Telegram channel Nikita Fedianin. During the lifetime of the founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, it was one of the most famous channels writing about this formation, with over 500,000 subscribers. Various propaganda channels on Telegram also mentioned that the column that was ambushed could have included one of the most important commanders of the Wagner Group, Anton Yelizarov, using the pseudonym “Lotos”, but nothing is known about his fate at the moment – the BBC reported.

According to a source from the Russian section of Radio Svoboda, there may be about 1,500 Wagner soldiers in Mali. “In this country, they are still called Russian instructors and no one cares who they report to in Russia. The Kremlin authorities probably decided to leave the Wagner Group brand in Africa to the mercenaries who were there before Prigozhin's death. In the countries to which they are now being sent for the first time, these forces are called the African Corps,” Radio Svoboda reports.

Africa is one of the traditional areas of activity of the Wagner Group, linked to the Kremlin authorities. Mercenaries of this formation are present in Mali, Libya and the Central African Republic, where they militarily support the local governments in exchange for gold, oil and diamonds.

Since 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine, the Wagnerites have been fighting in the country. After the June 2023 rebellion initiated by the leader of the group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his subsequent death (he died two months later in a plane crashj), the Wagner Group was officially disbanded and most of the mercenaries were to be relocated to Africa.