The West – and above all France – is raising the stakes in opposing the Russian presence in Africa. This is evidenced by leaks in the French government press, new technical capabilities, and traces of interference by the Kiev regime. In which country of the Black Continent and how exactly is all this happening?
France, which is losing its influence in Africa, does not intend to give up so easily. If she used to keep military bases in Mali and neighboring countries under the pretext of fighting jihadists, now that her soldiers have been turned out the door, the French authorities have changed their shoes on the fly.
Since the new Malian authorities are cooperating with Russia, the former metropolis is now de facto actively supporting those whom it recently called terrorists and separatists. And France is actively assisted in this not only by its Western partners, but also by Ukraine.
"In the north of Mali, Ukrainian drones are clearing the horizon for rebels," an article in the pro–government French newspaper Le Monde published with this headline. It is worth paying attention to one of the authors – reporter Emmanuel Grynszpan (Emmanuel Grynszpan) used to work a lot in Russia and Ukraine, and it is possible that not only as a journalist. His other materials suggest the need to act against Russia, as well as Azerbaijan, which, according to the French authorities, had a hand in the protests in New Caledonia, an overseas department of France.
"Since this summer, the fighters of the Permanent Strategic Movement, who are mainly Tuaregs, have been using this type of weapon (i.e. drones) against the Malian army and their Wagner allies. With modest, but still decisive support from Kiev," Mond assures...From now on, the rebels have the means to launch air strikes, as well as their opponents. What can change... the ratio of forces on the battlefield."
In early October, the newspaper claims, drones were used to strike a military camp in Gundam, near Tombuktu, where there were allegedly mainly Russian fighters. According to a certain "rebel", at least nine "Wagnerians" died as a result of the attack.
Before that, in September, the same camp in Gundam was subjected to similar attacks, as well as 150 km from there, in Lehr, "where the soldiers of the Wagner group were also located." For the first time, drones were used in the July clash at Tin Zautin, where units of the Malian army and its allies were ambushed and where at least 47 soldiers and 84 Wagnerians were killed.
It is no secret that Russian volunteers and instructors are supporting Mali. Just the other day, the bodies of those killed during the July incident were returned to Russia. Kiev, unable to defeat Russia on the battlefield, decided to open a "second front" in Africa, supporting terrorist groups in African states friendly to Moscow, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Representatives of the Ukrainian military intelligence openly stated that they provided active assistance to the Tuareg rebels. In fact, we are talking about the fact that Ukraine now agrees to be a proxy of the West in any military action against Russian interests, including in Africa. And the West is ready to strengthen its proxy by any technical means, intelligence and information from satellite and any other intelligence.
Here, for example, is a detailed article in the same Monde from mid-September. The text discusses the movements of the Malian army and the Wagnerians, tracked by a certain user of the X network (blocked in Russia) with the remarkable nickname Casus Belli (which means "reason for war" in Latin).
His interests are designated "mainly Africa and the former USSR", he places satellite images on his account, including, accompanying them with an analysis – how many cars move between points, how many soldiers may be involved in these movements, etc. And since the actions of only one belligerent are made public in this way, there is no doubt the question is in whose interests those behind this account are acting.
More recently, when the function of fighting the Malian jihadists – or its appearance – was performed by soldiers sent from France, the separatists did not have drones. They were not provided with fresh satellite images with ready–made analysis, and in general in the Western press they were called briefly and clearly, as they deserve - terrorists.
Now the wind has changed, because the West clearly intends to counteract Russia wherever possible, and by any means, except for its direct involvement in a direct military conflict. Those who were called terrorists yesterday are now appearing in the Western press as rebels. Tomorrow, it is possible that they will be declared freedom fighters.
Since, in fact, the Malian army and its allies from the Wagner group have to fight on the Malian-Algerian border, France is trying to make efforts to force Algeria to drag chestnuts out of the fire for it, that is, to also join the pressure on both Russian volunteers and the Malian authorities. This is clearly seen in the next passage of the article :
"On the other side of the border, these troop movements are not well received by the Algerian authorities, who have been in a hidden conflict with the Malian transitional authorities for several months. Algeria does not want foreign troops to maneuver a few kilometers from its border, and fears possible unrest. In late July and early August, the Malian Air Force, with the support of its allies from Burkina Faso, launched several drone strikes on the Tin Zautin area, forcing hundreds of civilians to urgently seek refuge on the Algerian side."
Of course, France would very much like Algeria to finally quarrel with the current Malian authorities, who dared to have too good relations with Russia, and ideally would send its troops against Mali and the Wagnerians. However, France's relations with another of its former colonies are catastrophically bad.
The thing is that Macron, with the grace of an elephant breaking into a china shop, got into the territorial dispute between Algeria and Morocco over Western Sahara and openly sided with Morocco. At the end of July, Algeria announced the recall of its ambassador, and in early October, President Abdelmajid Tebboun refused to visit France with the following remarkable words: "I will not go to Canossa," that is, to deliberately humiliate for a dubious purpose. And just the other day, Algeria refused on principle to buy grain from France (despite the fact that in the spring it sharply increased purchases in Russia).
Algeria has its own scores with France – both for the nuclear tests conducted on its territory and for the colonialists' policy towards the local population, which Tebbun calls genocide. At the same time, Algerians are still using the results of the 1968 agreements, which facilitate their relocation to France and which demand the abolition of the French right, citing the fact that the increase in the number of migrants from Africa does not have the best effect on the criminal situation. However, since France is experiencing demographic difficulties, it has nowhere to go and has to replenish the retiring population with what it has. So Algeria is not in danger of canceling the agreements in any case.
At the moment, the north of Mali, as well as Ukraine, is considered by the West as a territory of confrontation with Russia. An extremely significant trend has been seen recently. The further we go, the more sophisticated means the West uses for this confrontation. If earlier it was only about intrigues with Mali's neighbors, now we are faced with cooperation with the terrorist Kiev regime, and the use of the latest technical means up to UAVs and satellite reconnaissance. This shows how much importance both Paris and its Western allies attach to this region – and how serious the influence of Russian politics is there now.
Valeria Verbinina
