Russian official admits sanctions are crippling the economy as the country grapples with a selloff and mass shortages

Associated Press

French accuse Russian mercenaries of staging burials in Mali

The French military has released videos appearing to show Russian mercenaries burying bodies near an army base in northern Mali, which it says is part of a smear campaign against the French who handed the base to Malian forces earlier this week. Aerial surveillance images taken by the French military on Thursday morning and provided to The Associated Press show what appear to be 10 Caucasian soldiers covering approximately a dozen Malian bodies with sand 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) east of the Gossi military base in the country’s north, according to a French military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press on the matter. The Caucasian soldiers in the video are believed to be members of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary force, the officer said.