Russia Doubles Down in West Africa: New Military Deliveries, a Guinea Maritime Hub, and Africa Corps’ Expanding Footprint

The Sentry’s investigation reveals that three major Russian military convoys reached Mali in early 2025, while Russian businesses in Guinea facilitated deliveries, and Africa Corps its presence across West Africa

APRIL 21, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) — In the first five months of 2025, three large Russian-made convoys, including trucks, tanks, armored vehicles, and boats, reached Mali’s capital city, Bamako. The deliveries represent a significant escalation of Russia’s military investment in the Sahel, despite the Wagner Group’s withdrawal from Mali in June 2025 following almost four years of battlefield failures and widespread atrocities against Malian civilians. The Sentry’s latest investigation reveals that Moscow is not stepping back. It is recalibrating, replacing Wagner with the Kremlin-controlled Africa Corps and using Russian and Guinean businesses as enablers of its military operations.

Justyna Gudzowska, Executive Director of The Sentry, said:  “Russia is quietly entrenching itself in Africa. Our investigation shows a growing, —fueling conflict, backing military regimes, and enabling serious abuses against civilians. This is not a shadow operation; it is a deliberate expansion of Russian power.”

Key Report Insights

• Russia is doubling down on Mali despite Wagner’s failures. Although the Wagner Group failed to achieve significant battlefield successes in central and northern Mali and has not gained access to the country’s lucrative gold mining sector, Moscow has responded by deepening, not retreating, from its commitment to the country.
• Africa Corps is not just a rebranding of Wagner, it is a fundamentally different force. While Africa Corps has roughly the same number of troops as Wagner and shares some leadership and personnel, it operates under the tight control of the Russian state. Unlike Wagner, which pursued mining concessions through military inroads, Africa Corps is leveraging Russian and Guinean businesses for military purposes. Sources in Bamako confirmed to The Sentry that most of the recently delivered equipment, though officially claimed by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) to support the national military, was intended for nascent Africa Corps bases and fighters. The composition of the convoys further suggests a more risk-averse posture: the equipment is better suited to base protection than offensive desert operations, a direct response to the heavy personnel losses Wagner sustained.
• Guinea’s port has become Russia’s gateway to the Sahel. The Guinea Conakry port terminal operated by Russian-Guinean companies Alumina Company of Guinea (ACG-Fria) and Compagnie des Bauxites de Kindia (CBK)—both subsidiaries of United Company Rusal, the Russian aluminum giant—facilitated the military deliveries to Mali. These companies are wittingly or unwittingly enabling Africa Corps’ operations, demonstrating how Russian businesses can be used to support Russia’s ambitions in West Africa.
• Russia is building a regional power projection hub. Beyond Mali, Russia is increasing diplomatic engagement, providing military support to Sahelian governments, and establishing a strategic hub to project power across West Africa. Africa Corps troops are also deployed in Niger, Sudan, and Libya. Guinea and Mali are integral to Russia’s broader ambitions for regional influence.
• Malian civilians continue to pay the price. The transition from Wagner to Africa Corps has not moderated conduct toward the civilian population in Mali. Recent reports confirm increasing incidents of Africa Corps-perpetrated rape, torture, beheadings, mutilation, and summary executions, particularly across northern Mali and along the border with Mauritania.

“Putin is looking at Wagner’s successes and failures in Africa and telling the new recruits, that was fun, now let’s get to work.”
— Russian analyst, interviewed by The Sentry

Key policy recommendations in the report

• The Sentry is calling on sanctioning authorities in the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other likeminded jurisdictions to sanction companies supporting the Russian war effort in the Sahel, including UC Rusal subsidiaries ACG-Fria and CBK, and to closely monitor other countries and companies that may be facilitating Russia’s logistical advances across the region.
• The European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other likeminded jurisdictions should impose sanctions on Mali’s Defense Minister Sadio Camara and ANSE chief Modibo Koné for their role in facilitating and expanding the activities of Africa Corps/Wagner in Mali. The US delisting of Defense Minister Sadio Camara and senior military officials Alou Boi Diarra and Adama Bagayoko sets a troubling precedent that risks signaling to other Russia-linked actors in the region that their ties can be overlooked if geopolitical winds shift. Other jurisdictions should not interpret this delisting as grounds to deprioritize their own designations of such individuals.

Read the full investigative report: https://thesentry.org/reports/doubling-down-russia-west-africa/

For media inquiries, please contact: Kria Sakakeeny, Director of Communications, [email protected]

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About The Sentry: The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts. Learn more at: https://TheSentry.org