Mali Denies Deployment of Russian Mercenaries, Says Only 'Trainers' Present

Malian soldiers celebrate after the handover ceremony of the Barkhane military base by the French army in Timbuktu, on Dec. 14, 2021. (AFP)
Malian soldiers celebrate after the handover ceremony of the Barkhane military base by the French army in Timbuktu, on Dec. 14, 2021. (AFP)
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Mali Denies Deployment of Russian Mercenaries, Says Only 'Trainers' Present

Malian soldiers celebrate after the handover ceremony of the Barkhane military base by the French army in Timbuktu, on Dec. 14, 2021. (AFP)
Malian soldiers celebrate after the handover ceremony of the Barkhane military base by the French army in Timbuktu, on Dec. 14, 2021. (AFP)

Mali's government has denied the presence of Russian mercenaries in the West African country after 15 Western powers accused Russia of providing material support to a deployment of private military contractors.

France, Canada and 13 European nations on Thursday condemned Moscow for facilitating an alleged deployment of private military contractors from the Russia-backed Wagner Group to Mali, where the government is battling an extremist insurgency.

Government spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga in a statement late on Friday denied that "elements of a private security company" had been deployed to Mali. He said "Russian trainers" were present as part of a bilateral agreement between Mali and Russia.

Mali "formally denies these baseless allegations and demands that evidence be brought by independent sources," Maiga said. "Russian trainers are in Mali as part of the reinforcement of the operational capacities of the National Defense and Security Forces."

It was not immediately clear who the Russian trainers were, nor their exact role. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization could not immediately be reached for clarification early on Saturday.

Earlier this month the European Union suspended its training mission for soldiers in Central African Republic (CAR) because of fears it could get tied up in violations of international law by Russian mercenaries, including the Wagner Group.

The United States, which sanctioned Wagner for its actions in CAR earlier this year, has repeatedly condemned any potential deployment of Russian mercenaries to Mali.

The US State Department has said that such a deployment would cost the Malian government upwards of $10 million per month and further destabilize the country as it struggles to ward of extremists.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Wagner Group do not represent the Russian state, but that private military contractors have the right to work anywhere in the world so long as they do not break Russian law.



Türkiye Releases Over 120 People Charged with Taking Part in Protests

09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu shout slogans during a rally to protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu shout slogans during a rally to protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Türkiye Releases Over 120 People Charged with Taking Part in Protests

09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu shout slogans during a rally to protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu shout slogans during a rally to protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Türkiye on Thursday freed more than 120 people detained during last month's mass anti-government protests.
Courts in Istanbul released on bail 127 defendants, most of them university students, who were arrested at their homes on March 24 after taking part in demonstrations sparked by the jailing of the city’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, The Associated Press reported.
Imamoglu, who was arrested on March 19 on corruption and terrorism charges, is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule.
More than 2,000 people were detained for taking part in the country’s largest mass demonstrations in more than a decade. Of those, some 300 were jailed awaiting trial.
Those freed on Thursday are charged with participating in banned protests. One court released 102 suspects, many of them students with upcoming exams, after considering the time they had spent in prison, the low risk of absconding and on condition of not traveling abroad. A separate court released a further 25 people on condition that they report to police regularly.
The releases follow a campaign by parents to have their children set free, with many holding daily vigils outside a prison in Silivri, west of Istanbul.
Among those released was prominent demonstrator Berkay Gezgin, a 22-year-old student who met Imamoglu on the campaign trail in 2019 and coined the slogan “Everything will be fine,” which the Istanbul mayor later used in his campaign.
The defendants’ cases will be heard in June and September at Istanbul’s Caglayan Courthouse.