NAIROBI, December 19. /TASS/. The sweeping accusations against servicemen of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Africa Corps operating in Mali, published by the Associated Press, are not supported by any evidence, the Russian embassy in Mali said.
According to its statement, the article "is a collection of propaganda cliches and idle fakes aimed at discrediting Russian servicemen in the eyes of the Malian population, the countries of the Sahel Confederation, and the international community."
The December 7 article accuses the servicemen of crimes such as killing civilians, kidnapping, burning villages, and looting. However, "there are no references to documentary evidence or official confirmation from competent international agencies," the embassy emphasized. It also pointed to the anonymity of the sources, which makes it impossible to verify the allegations.
"This approach - selectively using emotionally charged evidence without checking alternative sources - is a violation of basic journalism standards, which require balanced coverage of the conflict," the statement said. "The article almost completely ignores the complex nature of the situation in Mali, where transnational terrorist groups have been operating for many years, regularly committing crimes against civilians and military personnel. Of particular concern is the tendency to blame all humanitarian tragedies in the region on one side while ignoring the active role of radical armed groups that emerged from the collapse of the Libyan state and the subsequent foreign intervention that destabilized the Sahel region," the embassy concluded.