RUSSIAN soldiers have arrived in Timbuktu to train Malian forces at a military base vacated by French troops last month, a military spokesman confirmed today.

Late last year the Malian government said that “Russian trainers” were in the country but little detail on the deployment, including the number of soldiers involved, had been made available.

Western countries responded angrily to news that Moscow was sending contractors working for the Wagner Group.

The European Union placed sanctions on the private security company, accusing it of human rights abuses in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Mozambique.

But France has also faced mass opposition to its presence in the Sahel region, with some accusing Paris of supporting jihadist groups there.

Mali denied “baseless allegations” that Wagner Group had deployed troops there last month, saying it had a “state-to-state partnership” with Russia.

“We had new acquisitions of planes and equipment from [the Russians],” a Malian army spokesman said on Thursday. 

“It costs a lot less to train us on site than for us to go over there … What is the harm?”