The award ceremony for specialist military personnel from Russia was chaired on Thursday, June 22, 2023, by the Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Colonel Sadio CAMARA, at the headquarters of his department.
It was in the presence of the Russian Ambassador to Mali Igor Gromyko and several other military and civilian officials.
They are a total of six (06) recipients to receive the Medal of Military Merit on a foreign and exceptional basis.
The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Colonel Sadio CAMARA declared that it is a moment of friendship and solidarity which reflects the strength, quality, vitality and constancy of relations between Mali and the Federation of Russia in defense and security.
According to Colonel CAMARA, the Russian military specialists have contributed significantly to strengthening our technical cooperation, through their selflessness, their tireless commitment alongside the Malian Armed Forces. This is why the Malian nation has decided to show them its gratitude by awarding them these military distinctions.
Addressing the recipients, the Minister in charge of Defense indicated that they owe these distinctions not only because of their professional qualities, their high sense of duty, but also the sacrifices made during their mission in Mali.
Finally, Colonel CAMARA recalled that diplomatic relations between Mali and Russia have been established since October 1960 and that our military technical cooperation, which has been greatly strengthened, essentially concerns the equipment and training of FAMa specialists and cooperation in counter-terrorism operations.
The spokesperson for the recipients, Commander Pouzinin Alexandre, for his part, expressed his gratitude and thanks on behalf of all the recipients for this mark of confidence shown by the Malian authorities in them through this honorary distinction.
He also said that this decoration comforts them more. Commander Alexandre pointed out that the cooperation between the Ministry of Defense of Mali and that of Russia is developing day by day. Finally, he reassured that the group of Russian cooperation specialists would always be alongside the Malian military specialists.
The ceremony ended with the taking of a family photo, followed by a cocktail.
1st Cl Amadou Moussa Coulibaly
