Bellingcat has geolocated footage showing Shahed-136 type kamikaze drones in operation in Mali.
Defence Blog and France 24 previously published reports that these drones were being deployed on the battlefield in northern Mali. But Bellingcat and Jeune Afrique subsequently verified two recent strikes using geolocation, satellite imagery and expert analysis to provide some of the clearest open-source evidence to date documenting their deployment.
The two strikes took place in the villages of Inafarak on July 12 and Talahandak on July 17. While the available evidence does not allow the exact variant to be identified, experts told Bellingcat it is quite likely the drones were manufactured in Russia given the deployment of the Kremlin-controlled Africa Corps group and the broader pattern of Russian military support to Mali.
Leo Jarry, a drone expert with Tungsten Strategies, told Bellingcat: “If the drones are Russian manufactured, they represent a visible demonstration of Russian support for Mali.”
Reports that Russian drones had been used in Mali first emerged in May, when Defence Blog published photographs of drone wreckage from strikes near the town of Savare.
Earlier this month, France 24 also identified debris from several Russian drone systems in Mali, pointing to an expanding Russian drone presence in the country. Until now, however, there has been no verified footage showing how Shahed-136 type drones in flight and hitting targets.
Mali has been mired in conflict since a rebellion erupted in the country’s north in 2012. In recent years, Russian forces, first through the Wagner Group and now through its successor, Africa Corps, have supported the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) in operations against Tuareg rebel groups and jihadist organisations
Inafarak – July 12, 2026
On July 12, footage showing the aftermath of a drone strike in the village of Inafarak was published on X.
#حدود الجزائر ، مسيرة مالية ، انطلقت من قاعدة غاوا “
ضربت موقعا للتجار “ب” ( انفارغ ) الأضرار مادية”تنبيه “
منطقة الضربة تبعد عن حدود الجزائر، 20 km ” pic.twitter.com/wpxWY7Qvz5— محمدن أيب أيب (@EypeMohamedn) July 12, 2026
Bellingcat geolocated the footage to the town, which is close to the border with Algeria (21.32330, 0.72980) using satellite imagery. We confirmed the location by comparing a post-strike satellite image captured on July 15 with imagery from 2024. The comparison shows several buildings that were standing in 2024 had been destroyed by July, 15, 2026. This damage was consistent with that visible in the geolocated footage. The strike appears to have hit a commercial facility, with a damaged truck and numerous damaged fuel drums visible.
One of the videos shows the remains of an engine which appears consistent with an MD-550, a distinctive four-cylinder two-stroke engine which is found on the Shahed-136 family of drones. We showed the image of the engine to two weapons researchers – Trevor Ball, an independent weapons expert and former Bellingcat investigator, and Leo Jarry, a drone expert with Tungsten Strategies – who said the engine is consistent with the Shahed-136 family of drones.
The component also closely matches reference imagery of MD-550 engines published by the Open Source Munitions Portal (OSMP), an expert-reviewed database of documented weapons remnants, and on the war & sanctions component database.
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The footage we found on X was also republished by the Wagner- and Africa Corps-affiliated Telegram channel “White Uncles in Africa”, which regularly shares racist memes and graphic posts and which Bellingcat has previously reported on.
The channel captioned the videos: “Now the Azawadi ‘khokhols’ will be seeing Gerans all the time.” The use of “Geran” refers to a Russian-manufactured version of the Shahed-136. The post also uses the derogatory Russian slur “khokhol” for Ukrainians and applies it to people from Azawad, the name used by Tuareg separatists for northern Mali.
Talahandak – July 17, 2026
On July 17, graphic footage showing the aftermath of another Shahed-136 type drone strike was posted on X, showing one casualty as well as a burning truck. An additional video of the burning vehicle shows what appear to be bottles of cooking oil spilling from the truck indicating it may have been a commercial truck.
Bellingcat geolocated these videos to the village of Talahandak (20.26369, 1.80095), which is also close to the border with Algeria but around 100 miles southeast of Inafarak, by matching the surrounding buildings to satellite imagery.
Shortly afterwards, a Wagner-affiliated X account claimed that the drone responsible for the strike had been shot down by rebels before hitting the truck. The post showed one video where a Shahed-type drone could be seen in flight.
#أزواد“منطقة” تل هنداك “سقوط مسيرة إيرانية انتحارية ‘ pic.twitter.com/g0yqbpRO9C
— محمدن أيب أيب (@EypeMohamedn) July 17, 2026
We were able to geolocate where the footage that captured the drone’s final moments before impact was filmed to another area of Talahandak, nearly a kilometer away (20.266907, 1.792656) from the video that showed the impact site.
A distinctive smoke plume can be seen rising from the sight of impact in several other videos posted online shortly after the strike.
Bellingcat geolocated each of these videos and matched the plume of smoke adding further confirmation that the footage showing the drone in flight is authentic.
The video shows the drone descending directly towards the location where the person and truck were hit, and there appears to be no interception before impact.
A New Weapon Raises New Risks
The Shahed-136 is a series of long-range one-way attack drones originally developed in Iran and now also manufactured in Russia. Unlike the drones typically used by Mali’s Armed Forces- the Bayraktar TB2 , which launch relatively small precision-guided munitions before returning to base, one-way attack drones are designed to explode on impact, allowing them to attack over longer distances given they do not require recovery.
Leo Jarry, a drone expert with Tungsten Strategies, told Bellingcat that the drone provides Africa Corps and FAMa with an “expendable, cost-effective” long-range strike capability, allowing them to engage targets in Mali’s far north beyond the effective reach of the Bayraktar TB2. “The fact that these systems are relatively cheap and expendable changes the risk calculation for operators,” Jarry said. “They can be used more freely, potentially forcing insurgents in northern Mali to adapt their behaviour to a new aerial threat.”
However, Jarry said the system is inherently less precise than the Bayraktar TB2 because it cannot verify its targets during flight. Instead, it relies on separate surveillance assets to identify and track targets before launch. “In Mali, where armed groups are highly mobile and frequently operate among civilian populations, any gap between target identification and impact creates a risk of striking the wrong target.” Combined with the drone’s larger warhead, this increases the potential for civilian harm when employed in or near populated areas.
#Azawad
un autre drone shahed russe a frappé un camion des marchandises à Talahandak. Ces marchandises une fois à Talahandak ils sont transité à Toumbouctou et Gao pour ravitailler ces villes,mais ces terroristes russes prefaireent terrorisés tout ce qui est dans l’Azawad. pic.twitter.com/y5E9ySC5RO— mahmoud (@mahmoud_sahara_) July 17, 2026
From Ukraine to Sahel
In Ukraine, Russian forces have used Shahed-136 type drones extensively in long-range strike campaigns that have repeatedly targeted civilian infrastructure, causing civilian casualties. Their appearance in Mali raises the possibility that the operational practices associated with these weapons are also being exported to this conflict.
The deployment also follows Bellingcat’s and Jeune Afrique’s recent investigation documenting the use of banned Russian cluster munitions in Mali.
Malian forces and Africa Corps currently face mounting pressure in northern Mali following a series of rebel offensives. Fighting has intensified in recent months, with rebels capturing several military bases and reportedly inflicting heavy losses on both FAMa and Africa Corps.
Jarry told Bellingcat that the relatively low cost and expendable nature of these new drones make them well suited to retaliatory strikes following attacks by rebels.
Bellingcat’s Carlos Gonzales contributed to this report as well as the following members of Bellingcat’s volunteer community: Nicole Kiess, Afton Briones, Riccardo Giannardi and Ziyu Wan.
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