After Wagner chief death, Russia vows to keep helping Mali

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a portrait of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin at a makeshift memorial near former PMC Wagner Centre in Saint Petersburg, Russia August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova/File Photo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia pledged at the United Nations on Monday to keep providing "comprehensive assistance" to Mali, where about 1,000 fighters with Russia's Wagner mercenary group are helping the West African state's junta fight an Islamist insurgency.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a plane crash last week and Russian President Vladimir Putin then ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state.