• A commander of the Russian paramilitary outfit, the Wagner Group, and two Malian government forces officials are under US sanctions.
• The US accuses the Wagner Group of using Mali as a conduit to source arms for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
• Eritrea and Mali are the only African countries that have openly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The United States (US) has sanctioned a top Russian paramilitary outfit commander and two senior Malian military officials for their roles in one of the most brutal massacres the country has experienced in recent history.

They are Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov, the Wagner Group’s leader in Mali; Colonel Moustaph Sangare, then commander of the 33rd Parachute Commando Regiment; and Major Lassine Togola, acting commander of the Autonomous Special Forces Battalion (BAFS).

In a statement, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who replaced Ned Price last month, said the three “conducted a military operation in Moura, Mali, which killed more than 500 people [in 2022]”, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

As such, the two Malians have been imposed with visa restrictions “under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programmes Appropriations Act for their involvement in gross violations of human rights”.

Maslov, the Wagner Group’s top man in Mali, Maslov, is no stranger to sanctions, much like his boss, Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch, mercenary chief, and close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The US believes Maslov is central to Russia’s attempt to source arms to fight in Ukraine, through countries such as Mali, where they enjoy government support.

“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. The United States opposes efforts by any country to assist Russia through the Wagner Group,” the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement late on Thursday.