VIGIL CONSILIUM
Context. Not headlines.
Coverage · Central Sahel

Key event

Wagner-linked forces arrive

Dec 2021 – early 2022

What happened

Russian personnel described by Western governments as Wagner Group contractors — and by Bamako as bilateral trainers — deploy to Mali as relations with France collapse.

The pivot that redrew the Sahel's security architecture: Russian partnership without governance conditions, purchased with mining-adjacent revenue and paid for in a harsher counterinsurgency.

Confidence: High

WhenDec 2021 – early 2022
KindMilitary · Diplomatic
ArenaState authority and military rule
Confidence: High Sources: Established international media reporting · UN Security Council and Panel of Experts reporting↗ Methodology Corrections

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Connected records

3 records that this event names, or that name it — every one an explicit reference in a published record, nothing inferred from subject matter.

Actors1

Actor records this event names.

Participants1

Organisations this event records, with the role and confidence it states.

Analytical Notes1

Published Notes whose analysis names this record. The Note owns the edge; this is the way back to it.

Where this fits

This is one entry in the Sahel timeline. The full Key Events surface carries every dated turning point with its filters and its essential subset, and this event in place shows what came before and after it. How Vigil grades, dates and sources its claims is set out in the methodology.