Sitrep: Russia, Ukraine, Wagner Group and Mali – what is going on in the Sahel region?
Ukraine has found itself cut off from diplomatic relations with Mali – a country located in the Sahel region of Africa.
But how do Russia, Ukraine and the Wagner Group find themselves in the middle of a conflict in Africa? And how does it affect the West?
General Sir Richard Shirreff, a former deputy supreme allied commander Europe, joined resident defence expert Professor Michael Clarke on the latest episode of the Sitrep podcast – which analyses the top defence stories of the week and is available wherever you get your podcasts.
Prof Clarke explained that the Malian government is working alongside Russia and the Wagner Group, now branded as the African Corps, to fight Tuareg separatists who are linked with al Qaeda and other jihadist groups.
"The Wagner and government troops had actually withdrawn... where they've been defeated, and they were regrouping and waiting for some reinforcements," he said.
"And then in the middle of a sandstorm, it looked as if they were surrounded by about a thousand Tuareg and guerrillas and other forces and they were just… taken out."
But what does this have to do with Ukraine?
Earlier in the week, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military intelligence said they had provided the separatists with information that would allow them to carry out the attack.
"They were taking some credit for it and they were pleased with themselves," Prof Clarke said.
However, he said "the fact that this direct comment came from Ukrainian military intelligence… was a bit of an own goal politically".
"And [Ukrainian President] Zelensky was very, very unhappy about it," he said.
The result has seen Mali cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine, with the BBC reporting that one top Malian official is accusing Ukraine of violating Mali's sovereignty.
However, Gen Sir Richard said it was a "poke in the eye for the Russians [that] was deeply embarrassing and was a very clever indirect move".
"Now, they could have handled it perhaps better by staying quiet about it," he said of the Ukrainians.
"But that's exactly the sort of thing that is going to humiliate Russia and make their position more difficult."
Mali was recently home to UN peacekeeping troops, including a British contingent, but the whole Sahel area is no longer a region in which the West has any geopolitical influence, according to Prof Clarke.
"The whole swathe of countries across the Sahel have now thrown out their Western backers and are wide open to the influence of Russia and China and all the gangsters and chancers in world politics," he said.
So why should the West care about what is happening in the Sahel?
Gen Sir Richard explained it is "a vacuum, and nature abhors a vacuum".
"It's been filled by the Russians. So what? So the West, the transatlantic community, Nato should be turning its attention to supporting stable countries in the Sahel to extend that stability," he said.
"Sahel is a strategic region for Europe, for the trans-Atlantic region, and instability in the Sahel, as we're seeing now, will have a direct impact."
He explained this impact was economic, with large mining operations based in Sahel.
Gen Sir Richard also said there was the "potential for large numbers of people from the Sahel to be leaving the region because of chaos, of war, of instability, of insurgency".
"Where do they want to come to? They want to come to Europe," he said.
"It's an area that Europe needs to take account of."
He also said Sahel was an area also of enormous energy resources, critical to Europe.
"Those countries on the western seaboard of North Africa have the potential… to replace much of the gas that was coming from Russia," he added.
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