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The military juntas of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have written to the UN Security Council condemning Ukraine’s support for rebel groups in West Africa’s Sahel region, Mali’s Foreign Ministry said.
Mali broke off diplomatic relations with Ukraine in early August following comments by Andrei Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, about the deaths of Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in fighting in northern Mali in late July.
Days later, Niger’s military junta followed suit in a show of solidarity with its neighbor, and Youssoff said Mali’s “rebels” had received the information they needed to “successfully conduct military operations.”
Mali and Niger interpreted Yusov’s comments as an admission of Ukraine’s direct involvement in the conflict and accused the country of supporting international terrorism as a result.
Ukraine has repeatedly called the allegations baseless and false. Its Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The country is still engaged in fierce fighting with Russia more than two years after Moscow invaded. The Tuareg rebel alliance has also said it does not receive any support from Ukraine. Both Tuareg separatists and jihadist rebels operate in northern Mali.
The Tuareg said they killed at least 84 Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers during several days of heavy fighting in July. Separately, an al-Qaeda member said he killed 50 Wagner mercenaries and 10 Malian soldiers in an ambush on one of those days.
In a letter to the Security Council, the foreign ministers of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso asked the Council to “take responsibility” for Ukraine’s actions and prevent “subversive acts” that threaten regional and continental stability.
The full text of the letter was posted on the social media accounts of Mali’s foreign ministry. Diplomats said the document was circulated to the 15 members of the Security Council on Tuesday evening. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have turned their backs on traditional Western and regional allies in favor of Russia since their board came to power over the past four years.
The July attack in the Kidal region of northern Mali near the Algerian border could be Wagner’s worst defeat since he stepped in two years ago to help the junta fight jihadist insurgents. The Tuareg are an independent ethnic group that live in the Sahara region, including parts of northern Mali.
Tuareg-led separatists launched a rebellion in 2012 that was pushed into Mali’s arid north before being hijacked by radical Islamist groups.
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