Russia is using the port of Conakry in Guinea as a transit hub to move military equipment into Mali, according to a report from the war crimes investigations group The Sentry. The nonprofit said Russian cargo ships repeatedly docked in the Guinean capital from January to May of last year, unloading military hardware that was then transported overland to Bamako. The organization cited satellite imagery and shipping data as evidence.
Among the vessels observed in Conakry were the Baltic Leader, with a displacement of 8,800 tons, and the Patria, with a displacement of 5,800 tons. Both are listed under Western sanctions imposed in connection with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two ships are part of the so-called shadow fleet that Moscow uses to deliver weapons and cargo to its partners. Dockworkers at the port of Conakry told analysts from The Sentry that the vessels delivered armored vehicles, tanks, artillery systems, combat aircraft, electronic warfare equipment, and other military supplies.
The investigation said Russian business activity in Guinea — particularly in the spheres of mining and port infrastructure — has made it easier to use Conakry as a transfer base for weapons. Thanks to the fact thatGuinea is politically aligned with Moscow, Russian companies are among the biggest users of port capacity for exports of bauxite and alumina, meaning ships from the country often have a legitimate purpose for docking there.
The Africa Corps, a Kremlin-controlled structure that replaced the overseas operations of the Wagner Group following Yevgeny Prigozhin’s uprising, began deploying in Mali in 2023. The new group’s presence steadily expanded as Western military contingents left the region, while Mali’s military junta, which seized power in 2021, deepened cooperation with Moscow. Neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, which are also governed by military authorities, followed a similar path. At the same time, the report noted that large-scale military support from Russia has still not enabled Mali to defeat the Islamist insurgency.
A report by the French outlet RFI revealed today that three nongovernmental organizations — FIDH, the Pan-African Lawyers Union, and TRIAL International — have filed a case with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, seeking to hold Mali responsible for crimes allegedly committed against civilians in 2022 by the country’s army together with Wagner fighters. According to human rights groups, more than 500 people were killed in those operations, and cases of torture, rape, and abductions were documented.
In January 2025, reports confirmed the transfer of hundreds of Russian vehicles into Mali through Guinea. In August of that year, a convoy from Russia’s Africa Corps was ambushed by militants from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM — West Africa’s branch of al-Qaida — near the Malian town of Tenenkou.
