Mali Cuts Diplomatic Ties With Ukraine, Accusing It Of Aiding A Rebel Attack In The African Country

People gather Monday in front of a makeshift memorial in Moscow, erected last year after the death of Yevgeniy Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group. A commemoration ceremony was held to pay tribute to Wagner fighters recently killed in Mali by Tuareg rebels. (Yulia Morozova/Reuters)

BY BABA AHMED AND MARK BANCHEREAU

BAMAKO, MALI (ASSOCIATED PRESS)— Mali’s government is cutting diplomatic ties with Ukraine over allegations that Kyiv aided an attack last month by armed groups in the West African country in which Malian soldiers and Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses.

Mali’s government spokesman, Col. Abdoulaye Maiga, said in a statement Sunday that the decision to immediately cut ties was prompted by comments from a Ukrainian official indicating his country’s involvement in the insurgency in Mali.

Ukrainian military intelligence agency spokesman Andriy Yusov last week told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne that armed groups in Mali had received “all the necessary information they needed” from Kyiv to conduct the July attack.

Dozens of Russia’s Wagner mercenaries and Malian soldiers were killed by jihadis and rebels in July in northern Mali, in what one analyst described as the largest battleground blow to the Wagner group in years.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement Monday that Mali had cut ties without a thorough review of the situation and without providing evidence of the country’s involvement in the attack.

Mali’s announcement follows another rebuke of Ukraine by neighboring Senegal, which also accused the country of supporting July’s attack.

Over the weekend, Senegalese authorities summoned Ukraine’s ambassador, Yurii Pyvovarov, accusing him of supporting the attack in a since-deleted video posted on the Ukrainian embassy’s Facebook account.

The accusations against Kyiv come at a time of fraying relations between the West and coup-affected Sahel nations. Following military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in recent years, the juntas have expelled French and U.S forces, and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance.

Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press reporter Samya Kullab contributed from Kyiv, Ukraine.