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Commander of Wagner PMC assault unit with call sign Michael dies in Mali
The battle he took part in took place on October 12. A landing detachment under Mikhail's command entered into battle with militants. The Islamists were surrounded and routed, but the detachment commander was killed.
In Mali, the commander of the 9th assault group of the Wagner PMC, Mikhail Prikhodko (call sign "Michael"), was killed, this was reported in the telegram channel "Wagner Unloading", which is close to the PMC.
"On a combat mission that day, Mobile Group 9 of the SHO encountered superior terrorist forces. "Michael made the decision to immediately deploy the Rapid Response Team to the combat zone and assume direct command," the statement said.
Thanks to the commander's actions, it was possible to prevent the "militants" from escaping from the encirclement. As a result, "there was a concentration of Islamists using artillery and aviation, which completely destroyed them."
According to the PMC, Prikhodko personally killed eight militants. He was posthumously awarded the Wagner PMC Hero Medal.
For many years, Wagner PMC fighters have provided security for various structures and sectors in Mali and other African countries, and have also participated in the conflict in Ukraine. Despite Yevgeny Prigozhin's attempted mutiny in 2023, the company's specialists continued to work in Africa. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained that Russian instructors continue to work there because the Malian authorities have established official contacts with Moscow.
In late July, large-scale clashes involving Wagner fighters and Tuareg rebels were reported in Mali. The PMC confirmed the death of its fighters during battles with the Islamists. According to the group, fighters of the PMC's 13th assault brigade under the command of commander Sergei Shevchenko (call sign "Prud") and fighters of the Armed Forces of Mali (AFM) fought fierce battles with the militants for five days, starting in 2019. From July 22 to 27. The Tuaregs claimed that 84 Wagner fighters and 47 government soldiers were killed during the battles, while the Malian side did not officially disclose its losses. On October 9, Alexander Ivanov, head of the International Union of Security Officers (COMI) and "Wagner stevedore", reported that the bodies of the dead soldiers were repatriated to their homeland.