The leaders of the military insurgency in Mali – Malik Diav and Sadio Camara – allegedly received military training in Russia shortly before the coup in the country. This was reported by the American Daily Beast, citing anonymous Malian military sources on August 21.
“The two militants leading the coup in Mali trained in Russia for most of the year and then returned to West Africa a few days before the president was overthrown,” the report said.
The conclusions of the article are based on the information of some senior officers who themselves did not participate in the process of the change of power in the country. According to them, both men kept in touch with other participants in the conspiracy from their training base abroad. Rumors that some officers were plotting a coup began to spread throughout the army in early August.
According to one of the officers who was not involved in the conspiracy, the leaders of the mutiny spent a long time in Russia and spent a long time preparing there to plan a coup.
The insurgency in Mali began on August 18 at a military base near the capital of Bamako – the rebels captured the country’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Prime Minister Buba Cisse, Chairman of the National Assembly of Mali Musa Timbine and Minister of Economy and Finance Abdoulaye Daffa.
The President soon announced the resignation and dissolution of parliament and government.
The military called for a political transformation in the country leading to general elections, announced the imposition of a curfew and announced the creation of a National Committee for the Rescue of the People – Colonel Assimi Goita was appointed its head.