The Russian mercenary force is said to be willing to falsify documents to use Mali as a transit point for Ukrainian war material.
The Wagner Russian Mercenary Force has attempted to cover up efforts to obtain military equipment internationally for use in the war in Ukraine and is seeking to transit those supplies through Mali, the US State Department said.
The private mercenary force, which is fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, is prepared to use false papers to ship military equipment through Mali, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Monday during a briefing. a press briefing.
“We have been informed that Wagner is seeking to transit material acquisitions to aid Russia’s war through Mali and is prepared to use false papers for these transactions,” Miller said.
“In fact, there are indications that Wagner attempted to buy military systems from foreign suppliers and funnel those weapons through Mali as a third party,” he said.
“We have not seen, at this time, any indication that these acquisitions have been finalized or executed, but we are monitoring the situation closely.”
Miller added that the United States has imposed sanctions on individuals and entities “across multiple continents” that were found to “support Wagner’s military operations,” and Washington would soon have more to say about the attempt to ship materiel through Mali.
Earlier this month, the French parliament passed a resolution calling on the European Union to officially declare Wagner’s mercenary force a “terrorist group”, a move that followed after the United States declared Wagner a “terrorist organization”. Transnational Crime” in January.
Wagner and his entrepreneur owner Yevgeny Prigozhin were repeatedly sanctioned by the US and EU for human rights abuses in Africa and for participating in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Western countries have also raised concerns about the activities of Wagnerian mercenaries in Mali.
Earlier this month, the United Nations Human Rights Office announced that an investigative report concluded there were ‘strong indications’ that more than 500 people were killed in Mali by Malian troops and foreign military personnel – believed to be from Wagner – during an operation in March 2022 which took place over five days in the village of Moura, in the central region of Mopti. Most of those killed were executed, according to the UN.
“Witnesses reported seeing ‘armed white men’ who spoke an unknown language operating alongside Malian forces and at times appearing to oversee operations,” the UN said in a statement.
“According to witnesses, Malian troops came and went daily in Moura, but foreign personnel remained throughout the operation,” the UN said.
The UN said at least 58 women and girls were raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violence during the operation.
“These are extremely disturbing findings,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in the statement.
“Summary executions, rape and torture during armed conflict constitute war crimes and could, depending on the circumstances, constitute crimes against humanity,” Turk said.
Military leaders in Mali and Russia have previously maintained that Wagner’s personnel in Mali were not mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with military equipment purchased from Russia.