Overview

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia will intensify defence and security cooperation with African states as part of a wider engagement strategy
• Wagner’s exit concludes a three-and-a-half-year deployment that began in late 2021 and followed its reorganisation after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed mutiny
• About 70–80% of Africa Corps personnel are former Wagner fighters, according to Telegram chats reviewed by Reuters
• Malian authorities never formally acknowledged Wagner, referring only to Russian instructors, and will continue to rely on the new unit for training and operations
• A UN report and Human Rights Watch have accused Wagner and Malian forces of mass civilian killings, fueling Western concern over Russia’s growing influence