‘Heat and shackles’: Russian soldiers freed from terrorist captivity in Mali talk to RT

Two servicemen have been released after being held by Islamist militants for 755 days Two Russian soldiers who spent more than two years in terrorist captivity in Mali have described to RT the extreme heat, constant shackling, poor food, and barely drinkable water they endured at the hands of Islamist militants.

Aleksandr Efremov and Vasily Nagalev spoke exclusively to RT’s Daria Vaganova after being brought to Libya on their way home to Russia.

The servicemen were captured in 2024 during the battle of Tinzaouaten near the Algerian border, when militants from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM ambushed a Malian military convoy supported by Russia’s Wagner Group.

The Malian and Wagner forces were heavily outnumbered in the fighting.

Efremov and Nagalev spent a total of 755 days in captivity, isolated from civilization and keeping track of time by counting sunrises and sunsets.

They said the reality of captivity was nothing like what is typically portrayed in films.

“In movies, you can usually escape, but here there’s nowhere to run because there’s nothing but Sahara everywhere,” Aleksandr said, describing their ordeal as essentially “Sahara and chains.” Read more Malian and Russian forces reclaim strategic northern town The soldiers said their legs were constantly shackled as they endured extreme heat and survived on poor food and barely drinkable water.

After about a year, hope of being rescued began to fade.

“There was hope for about the first year, but by the second year, it didn’t matter anymore whether we’d be released or not,” Aleksandr recalled.

“There were moments so tense that we practically begged to be shot.” Their release was secured through negotiations involving the Russian Defense Ministry’s Africa Corps and the Malian General Staff, mediated by forces of the Libyan National Army led by General Saddam Haftar.

A Russian medical specialist treating the men after their release said the food they had received was “extremely detrimental to their bodies,” while they had been “practically drinking from a puddle.” “They have problems with their intestines, liver, and other organs,” he said, adding that doctors were “gradually restoring them” to health.

Both men are currently in “stable and satisfactory” condition and could return to Russia within “a week or two” once their condition has fully stabilized.

Read more Dozens of militants killed in Mali army base battle Efremov and Nagalev told RT they intend to continue serving in the Russian military after recovering and plan to join Moscow’s military operation against Kiev.