A recent photograph obtained and geolocated by The Insider shows what appears to be at least 3 Turkish-made Bayraktar drones parked at an airport in Mali which is known to be used as a military base for the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) in the African republic. The military base is located at the Sevare military airport near the town of Mopti.
The acquisition by the Mali government of two Turkish made TB-2 drones was acknowledged by state-owned media in the African country in December last year. However, the new photographs show that the number of drones is larger, and that they are deployed at the airport used by Wagner as a temporary military base in Mali. Wagner’s base had been attacked by islamist fighters in April this year.
The new photographs, which contain metadata showing they were taken on 30 August, appear to be taken from a helicopter flying out of or approaching the Sevare military base - days after Prigozhin’s plane carrying the command of the Wagner base was shot down near Tver. Sources within the former Wagner group tell Wagner that control over the Sevrare military base has in the meantime being taken over by representatives of Russia’s Ministry of Defense. This would mean that Russia's armed forces now have drones that the Turkish manufacturer had previously made available only to the Ukrainian army.