Ukraine accused by Sahel juntas over Tuareg rebels

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have accused Ukraine of supporting Tuareg separatists fighting Mali's army and its Russian allies, allegations Kyiv did not immediately answer in comments to AFP.

The three Sahel countries, all led by military juntas that have moved closer to Russia, have severed diplomatic relations with Kyiv. They accuse Ukraine of supplying weapons to the Azawad Liberation Front, a predominantly Tuareg separatist group loosely allied to Al-Qaeda's Sahel branch, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims.

Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop alleged at the United Nations in September that Ukraine was giving “clear and open support” to groups he described as terrorist and mafia-like organisations. Niger's Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine accused France and Ukraine of directing “proxies” near Niger's northeastern borders to attack military positions and oil facilities.

Kyrylo Budanov, a former Ukrainian intelligence chief who became President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff in January, wrote on X on September 7 that Ukrainian military intelligence protects Ukrainian interests “from Russia to Africa” and “in the scorching sands of deserts”. The post included a photo of four white men, their faces blurred, with armed, turbaned men in pickup trucks in a desert.

CNN reported five days later that Ukrainian military intelligence officers had confirmed that drone operators in the Sahel had provided training and support to the Azawad Liberation Front.

A source within the separatist group told AFP that the group “maintain contact with the Ukrainians” and said Ukrainians had provided some instruction. The same source denied that Kyiv had provided logistical, material or intelligence support, and said recent fighting had been carried out by the Azawad Liberation Front and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims.

The separatist source said “three or four Ukrainians” travelled to northern Mali in 2023 to train some fighters, and that several combatants had a 30-day course in Ukraine on the use of first-person-view drones. A second source within the group said the training in northern Mali took place near the Mauritanian border.

A diplomat based in the region, speaking anonymously, said Ukrainians had “a definite presence in northern Mali” and collaborated with Tuareg rebels. The diplomat said the Mauritanian border was the main crossing point for exchanges and that drones used by the separatists came from Ukraine.

A Carnegie Endowment for International Peace study in November said Kyiv had been supplying drones to the separatists since early 2024. In July 2024, Ukrainian military intelligence official Andriy Yusov hinted that Kyiv had provided information to fighters who carried out an attack in northern Mali that killed dozens of Russian mercenaries and Malian soldiers.

Ukraine has opened several embassies across Africa in recent years. In March it set out its first strategy for expanding its reach on the continent, and in August Zelensky asked ambassadors to pay close attention to regions including the Sahel.