Maslov is a senior Wagner Group security official who was tasked by Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitriy Valeryevich Utkin to lead the Wagner Group’s mercenary units in Mali, according to the press release.īoth Prigozhin and Utkin have been sanctioned by the US, the UK, the EU and Canada.Ĭloseup view of il76 at al jufra airbase_16april2023 Maxar TechnologiesĮxclusive: Evidence emerges of Russia's Wagner arming militia leader battling Sudan's army “The Wagner Group’s presence on the African continent is a destabilizing force for any country that allows for the deployment of the group’s resources into their sovereign territory.” Nelson said: “Treasury’s sanctions against the most senior Wagner Group representative in Mali identify and disrupt a key operative supporting the group’s global activities. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. US says Wagner Group is trying to use third countries to obscure weapons shipments to Ukraine A slogan on the screen reads: 'Join the team of victors!' REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in September 2021 that the Malian government would be hiring private Russian mercenaries for help with security.Īn advertising screen, which promotes to join Wagner private mercenary group, is on display on the facade of a building in Moscow, Russia, March 27, 2023.

Wagner has sought to expand its presence in Africa in recent years and has been operating alongside Mali’s armed forces for more than a year, fighting against a jihadist insurgency. “We are monitoring this closely,” the official added. The US official told CNN last week there were no signs yet that Wagner has successfully procured the equipment, but the group has continued working to procure mines, drones, radar and counter-battery systems from contacts in Mali for use in Ukraine. The United States opposes efforts by any country to assist Russia through the Wagner Group,” it added. “The Wagner Group may be attempting to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, including by working through Mali and other countries where it has a foothold.

Russian mercenaries boarding a helicopter in northern Mali.

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