Russia’s Africa Corps has freed two hostages, employees of a Russian geology company, who were held in Mali for nearly two years after being captured by an al-Qaeda-linked group in neighbouring Niger. The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), also known as JNIM, released a video in August 2024 showing the two men, claiming they had been seized in Mbanga, southwest Niger, from a Russian geology company. Moscow confirmed they had been taken hostage the previous month.
The two men—Oleg Greta, a Russian citizen born in 1962, and Yuri Yurov, a Ukrainian born in 1970—were freed in a special operation conducted by Russia’s Africa Corps in Mali, according to the Russian defence ministry. “An initial medical examination by Russian doctors at the Africa Corps hospital revealed that they suffer from numerous medical conditions and severe physical exhaustion,” the ministry said in a statement on social media. Video released by the ministry showed the pair slouched down, one leaning against a pillow under a blanket.
The Africa Corps has largely taken over the operations of the Russian mercenary group Wagner on the continent, which previously had a widespread presence, deploying fighters alongside the armies of countries including Libya and Mali. Mbanga, where the hostages were taken, is in the Tillaberi region near Niger’s borders with Burkina Faso and Mali. The area is home to several gold mines and has seen multiple instances of hostage-taking over the past six years.
Russia has dispatched military instructors and paramilitary groups to several juntas in Africa’s Sahel region to combat jihadist insurgencies. Amid its war in Ukraine, Moscow has sought to expand its political, economic, and military influence across the continent.
