The withdrawal of Russian forces from the strategic city of Kidal, in the north of Mali, is considered by analysts to be one of the most serious blows to the Kremlin’s image suffered in recent years on the African continent.
The images of the columns of Russian military vehicles retreating, captured on video and distributed online, quickly became a symbol of the difficulties Moscow is facing in the Sahel region.
According to CNN, the withdrawal targeted units of the so-called “African Corps”, a Russian military structure created after the reorganization of the Wagner group and now under the coordination of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The evacuation occurred in the context of an offensive launched on April 25 by armed groups active in northern Mali.
The attacks were simultaneously launched by militants linked to the al-Qaeda network and by Tuareg separatist rebels, in a rare cooperation between these groups, which allowed the rapid takeover of several military targets in the region.
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