A Russian cargo ship currently under international sanctions delivered dozens of military vehicles to Mali via the port of Conakry, Guinea, in late March.
Satellite imagery and maritime tracking data show the vessel, named the Sabetta, loaded the armored equipment at Baltiysk Port in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The shipment followed a documented route through Guinea before traveling by land to Bamako, the Malian capital.
Open-source investigator @SONARROW_OSINT posted satellite images on March 6 showing the loading process in the Kaliningrad region. The equipment is intended for the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) and the Africa Corps, a Russian-controlled paramilitary group that succeeded the Wagner Group.
Sanctions evasion and military escort
The Sabetta is included on a list of entities sanctioned by the United States Department of State following the invasion of Ukraine. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) maintains the registry of these sanctioned vessels.
According to security news site Wamaps, the Sabetta departed Baltiysk around February 22. The cargo ship was accompanied during its transit by the Aleksandr Shabalin, a Russian Ropucha-class landing ship.
This delivery route mirrors a pattern previously identified by RFI, involving maritime transport from Russia to Conakry followed by overland convoys to Mali. The Africa Corps, which operates under direct Russian government oversight, continues to receive hardware through these maritime channels.
