In the shadow of the Kremlin, more than 70 Russians paid homage on Sunday to Wagner fighters killed in a major battle with Mali rebels and Islamist fighters, one of the mercenary group's most deadly defeats in Africa.

The Wagner mercenary group said last month its fighters and Malian soldiers had taken losses in heavy fighting against Tuareg rebels and Islamist fighters from an al Qaeda affiliate near Mali's border with Algeria.

Mali's northern Tuareg rebels said they had killed at least 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers during days of fierce fighting in late July.

In Moscow, just a few hundred metres from the Kremlin, dozens of Russians came to mourn the fallen Wagner fighters, a Reuters journalist said.

One man, dressed in military clothing and wearing Wagner badges, kneeled before pictures of the group's fighters killed in Mali.

Beneath flags with the Wagner motto of "Blood, Honor, Motherland, Courage", some lit candles. One woman on knees wept before a picture of a Wagner fighter. Others laid red carnations below pictures of the dead.

None of those asked for comment at the makeshift memorial would speak to Reuters.

Mali, where military authorities seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, is battling a years-long Islamist insurgency. It has said Russian forces there are not Wagner mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with equipment bought from Russia.