How Ukraine deceived the global South

Kiev has offended many countries by openly supporting terrorists in a bizarre, anti-diplomatic act.

Government of Mali Officially severed diplomatic relations with UkraineUkraine is an Eastern European country, Mali is located in the Sahel region of Africa. Frankly speaking, the political and trade relations between the two countries are not close, neither positive nor – until now – negative. Kyiv doesn’t even have an embassy in BamakoUkraine is the capital of Mali, although it also has diplomatic missions in some other African countries; Mali has no diplomatic mission in Ukraine. At first glance, it is difficult to understand how such a conflict could have occurred between two countries with such distant relations.

But this bizarre spat is entirely Ukraine’s fault, allowing Kyiv to shoot itself in the foot. The aggressive, arrogant and short-sighted behavior of the Ukrainian leadership left Bamako with no choice but to tell Kyiv to go. While this may seem like a relatively localized problem, the impression is misleading. In fact, Ukraine’s rough treatment of African countries has wider significance, as it symbolizes its inability to convince countries in the Global South or even to treat it with respect.

But first things first. Here’s what happened: In late July, forces fighting for the Malian government, including the Malian army and the Russian Wagner Group, Ambushed in the north of the countrynear the town of Tinzawatten. The attackers were also composed of two different but at least de facto cooperating forces: Tuareg rebels, representing a long-standing separatist rebellion dating back to 2012, organized by the CSP-DPA (Strategic Committee for the Defense of the People of Azawad). In addition, jihadist terrorists linked to al-Qaeda, operating under the name of JNIM (Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin), also carried out the attack.

The details of the battle are still not entirely clear. Apparently, a sandstorm largely negated the Malian government’s air superiority. But what is certain is that Tuareg separatists and jihadist terrorists joined forces to inflict a bloody blow on their opponents. Wagner’s losses were heavy, reportedly exceeding “Two dozen“”Approx. 50,” and”Over 80 years oldBamako Government Its military casualties were 2 dead and 10 injured..

But the exact numbers are far less important than three simple facts: Wagner’s troops and the Malian army’s soldiers are fighting for the government. They are being attacked by a combination of separatist Tuareg rebels and jihadist terrorists. Most importantly, from the Malian government’s perspective, both the rebels and the terrorists are enemies, and under international law the government has the right to fight them, and outsiders have no right to support them.

Enter Ukraine. Or more precisely, Kyiv’s notorious military intelligence agency, the HUR. In fact, the HUR, a CIA-trained assassination and covert operations agency, was obsessed with crazy plans aimed at expanding the war in Ukraine, and it could not keep silent. If you think about it, this is a strange weakness for a secret agency. Shortly after the battle of Tinzavatyn, HUR spokesman Andrei Yusov publicly claimed that his agency assisted in the ambush, providing “all the necessary information they (the attackers) needed.” There is also speculation that there may be more factors involved, such as drones and weapons.

Now, you might think that after such a massive dereliction of duty, the hatches would be opened and Yusov would be officially disowned, gagged, locked up (or at least fired). But this is the Zelensky regime, built by and revolving around a bombastic self-promoter. So, no damage control. Instead, once in a hole dug by a spy who can’t keep a secret, Ukraine’s “diplomats” — whose forte is a lack of diplomatic protocol — just keep digging: Yuri Pivovarov, Kyiv’s ambassador to Senegal — why offend just one African country when you can offend two? — A video was posted on its embassy website Bragging about helping kill Malian government troops in Mali. The Senegalese government summoned this “diplomat” and the video has now disappeared. It does make you wonder: Are the Kiev “elites” sending draft dodgers to do “diplomacy”? How do they select these talents?

Of course, Kiev’s collective failure is two-fold. If what Yusov boasted about actually happened, that is, if Ukraine assisted a de facto alliance of separatist rebels and jihadist terrorists to attack and kill Malian government forces (including the Wagner forces, as their mission was authorized by Bamako), then Kiev would clearly have committed a major crime. Indeed, in this case, Mali would have a clear casus belli to go to war against Ukraine in self-defense under international law.

Another thing is that such an action would have no practical significance for Bamako, given the geographical distance and Kiev’s ultimate irrelevance and tendency to punish itself. Incidentally, the Ukrainian government’s response to Mali’s severance of relations does reveal very serious conscience issues. Kiev absurdly claims that Mali has no evidence of its involvement. Excuse me? Senior Ukrainian military intelligence officials and ambassadors boast about this, and this is “no evidence”? At times, Kiev’s communications do sound like they were sent in a drunken state.

On the other hand, if Yusov and Pivovarov are just imagining all this (although this is unlikely), then we have the picture of a regime where top officials take pleasure in making big statements that can only greatly damage their country. They will undoubtedly damage the country. Because Ukraine’s blatant misconduct in this matter has attracted the attention of the international community. This matter is far from being a trivial matter, but it has reverberated in the global media. Especially in the global South, this incident will be remembered and remembered because it reveals Kiev’s aggression and arrogance.

There is, of course, a double irony in this. First, throughout the entire time that the Zelensky regime has allowed Ukraine to engage in proxy wars, Kyiv and its so-called “friends” in the West have been trying to promote Ukraine as a country on equal footing with the post-colonial countries of the Global South. This rhetorical strategy is as obvious as it is crude, namely to elicit sympathy by exploiting the suffering that Asians, Africans and South Americans have long suffered at the hands of the West: a perverse role-play by a country that has aligned itself with the West to a suicidal degree and apparently has no problem replicating the West’s deep-seated and ultimately racist arrogance toward the Global South. Second, the Zelensky regime has also been desperately trying to mobilize the Global South on its side in its struggle against Moscow. It has failed utterly. The events in Mali show why, and why it will never succeed. It cannot be achieved unless the Ukrainian elite overcomes its stodgy provincialism and learns to respect others. Which is to say, it may never be achieved.

Why? Let Mali have the final say. Government spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga It is very clear: “Ukraine’s participation in the cowardly, treacherous and brutal attacks of armed terrorist groups (…) violates Mali’s sovereignty, goes beyond the scope of foreign interference and amounts to supporting international terrorism.”

（RT.com）