last 24 48 hours. putin clearly solidly on the throne and what we need to do is everything we can, both in military and also in terms of sanctions and export controls, to enable ukraine to convince putin that he is not going to be able to out suffer the euro cranium is, the europeans and the americans. general david petraeus, europeans and the americans. general david petraeus, thank europeans and the americans. general david petraeus, thank you europeans and the americans. general david petraeus, thank you so - europeans and the americans. general david petraeus, thank you so much - david petraeus, thank you so much for coming on newsnight. sticking with that story. after the presumed death of yevgeny prigozhin, what s the future of his wagner group? its operations stretch much further than ukraine, with the mercenary group active across several countries in africa. only a few days ago, prigozhin was seen in a video trumpeting wagner s role in making africa more free . as he pu
the religion of the prophet. as the conflict between the jihadist groups increased, help from the west was pushed aside as support on the street for russia grew. many in mali look to wagner and yevgeny prigozhin, and the military operation by the french ended as the mercenary group s fighters took up arms in mali. just days ago, prigozhin appeared in this video, promising to rid countries of islamist threats. some of his supporters claim the clip was filmed in africa, possibly even in mali. translation: the wagner group conducts reconnaissance - and search activities. we make russia even greater on all continents and africa even more free. we are forjustice and happiness for the african peoples. we terrify islamic state, al-qaeda and other gangsters. even before prigozhin s death,
bilal ag acherif, the leader of an arab rebel group in the area, told us wagner had not helped the security situation in mali. translation: in the areas of wagner are operating in, in north and central mali, they committed a lot of crimes, taking people s belongings, killing innocent people indiscriminately. they have had no positive effect on security in the areas they operate in. 0n the contrary, there are more displaced people leaving these areas. in addition to this chaos, there is a growing power vacuum. un bases like this one are pulling out, leaving more areas under thejihadist and russian influence. the chaos we have seen during ourjourney is spreading across the region. but as it grows, there s very little russia or the west can do to stop it.
with the growing insurgency. that reliance led france to end its military operation in mali last year. bbc arabic s feras kilani is the firstjournalist to travel to northern mali since french forces left. he made the dangerous journey with producer mohamed ebrahim and cameraman dany abi khalil. the start of a thousand mile journey across vast deserts to an unseen conflict, where wagner fighters clash with jihadists and rebel groups. it s impossible to operate here without a convoy of heavy security. i m dressing to blend in. it s a dangerous and difficult journey in the north of mali, but it s the only way to reach camps like this one. this is the only school in the area. these children are being taught to recite verses from the koran.
sites like this made the west suspicious of the mercenary group s ambitions in africa. and here is one of the reasons why wagner is fighting here in mali. natural resources like this gold make a huge profit for the group. this is one of mali s many gold processing plants. it s only a small operation, with little heavy machinery, and much of the panning and smelting done by hand. but with hundreds of sites like this across the country, mali manages to produce more than 60 tonnes of gold a year making it one of africa s top five exporters. wagner has also been accused of human rights violations in africa. these pictures, released by the french military before they left, allegedly show fighters burying bodies in a mass grave in eastern mali.