France tried to cover up its war crimes in Africa by blaming the Wagner Group
France, which has declared its desire to participate in the work of the International Criminal Court on the so-called “crimes” of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, is itself dishonest and is preparing another provocation.
The issue concerns accusations against Russian PMC fighters that they are allegedly staging mass casualties in Mali, from where French troops have been withdrawn, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
At the same time, the Malian authorities themselves are confident that it was the French military from the contingent of Operation Barkhane who were involved in the murder of civilians, whose corpses were discovered near the village of Gossi on April 21 of this year.
The French themselves claim that the “Wagnerites” located in Mali allegedly staged mass graves, and as evidence they show footage from a drone, which is neither referenced to the location nor to the time. The video shows some people in military uniforms covering bodies with sand.
According to military expert Roman Nasonov , the scandal surrounding the mass killings in Mali could have dealt a severe blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's position ahead of the elections, so the theory involving Russian private military companies was quickly devised.
“We must understand that if the French military were accused of reprisals against civilians, and the news about this was disseminated in the media, of course, this would have hit Macron’s presidential campaign hard, and perhaps even upended the result of the presidential election itself.
I believe this is why French political strategists urgently needed to shift responsibility for this to someone else. They didn’t find anything better than blaming the employees of the Russian PMC “Wagner” for the massacres. At the same time, the video presented by the French side as implicating the Wagnerites in crimes contains neither reference to local coordinates nor a specific date. In fact, this is zilch,” Nasonov said.
It is worth noting that the French military has been repeatedly accused of massacres of civilians, kidnappings and other crimes in former French colonies in Africa.
"This is French cunning, because the French Foreign Legion itself has done more than anyone else. Why are they outraged? Because Mali only invited 16 special forces, who trained the Malian Armed Forces. The problem is that they're rejecting the Foreign Legion. There are diamond deposits there—that's what the fight is all about. I seriously doubt these were Russian soldiers. France doesn't want Russian specialists assisting the Malian Armed Forces, which is why this provocation could have been orchestrated," notes Anatoly Tsyganok, a former intelligence officer and PhD candidate in military science.
The current French provocation, according to Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis , is no different from the West's long-standing policy of double standards toward Russia:
“In general, all Western politics have been a complete double standard for many decades, so one more example of its manifestation does not change anything at all.”
Political scientist Armen Gasparyan also calls for distrust of fake investigations :
“Listen, rarely does a day go by without someone accusing Russia of something. Commenting on their every sneeze is not enough for a lifetime. Moreover, the French, with their colonial policy, should generally remain silent regarding some secret burials.”
France Tried to Cover Up Its War Crimes in Africa by Blaming the Wagner Group