of rumors swirling for some weeks and months now that the malian government was looking to contract the notorious paramilitary mercenary group, the wagner group, to come into that country and in their mind secure that region in the north that continues to have very severe security issues and a great deal of impact to the civilian population. here's sergey lavrov, the foreign minister, trying to wash his hands of direct connections. take a listen. >> translator: mali has approached russian private military companies. we have nothing to do with that. this is an activity which has been carried out on a legitimate basis. >> reporter: now, there has been extensive reporting, including from cnn, showing close ties of the wagner group to the kremlin. so of course people take that with a pinch of salt. but you have this very direct criticism from the malian prime