Mali can learn what to expect from Russian mercenaries by looking at their playbook from the Central African Republic, As Russian mercenaries deploy to Mali to combat Islamist insurgents, the country can expect to be forced to pay an escalating bill, on top of seeing the operatives take over valuable mining concessions. Meanwhile, rights abuses are likely to increase, with civilians in insurgent areas being labelled as rebels and government critics becoming the target of a crack-down.