Russia will continue to fight against Kiev’s “unacceptable” support of international terrorism after Ukrainian officials admitted to, and then attempted to walk back, their involvement in a deadly raid in Mali, a top Russian diplomat has told a ministerial session of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.
Some 40 ministers and 1,500 other participants from across Africa took part in the forum held in the Sirius Federal Territory outside the Black Sea city of Sochi this weekend. The acting head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Challenges and Threats, Georgy Mikhno, addressed the conference on Saturday, accusing Ukraine of supporting international terrorism.
“The destructive activities of the criminal Kiev regime, which openly supports terrorist groups in Africa, must not go unnoticed,” Mikhno told the forum, adding that Russia will continue fighting against this “unacceptable practice” in Africa and globally.
Kiev publicly implicated itself in the July incident in Mali when Tuareg insurgents ambushed and killed dozens of Malian forces and personnel from Russia’s Wagner Group, the diplomat insisted.
“This is why the decision by the Republic of Mali and Niger to immediately sever diplomatic relations with Kiev is absolutely logical in our opinion,” he added.
President Vladimir Putin also addressed the forum on Sunday, promising that Moscow would continue to provide “all possible assistance” to African nations in various spheres, ranging from tackling natural disasters and epidemic diseases to fighting terrorism.
Ukraine has been embroiled in a diplomatic crisis in West Africa since July, when the spokesman for Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency, Andrey Yusov, admitted that his agency had provided the rebels with “necessary information, and not just information, which enabled a successful military operation.” According to Le Monde, Ukrainian spies shared their drone warfare techniques to help the rebels kill Russian security contractors.
The remarks sparked outrage in Mali and several neighboring West African countries, which have accused Ukraine of supporting aggression. The Malian military government and its ally in Niger responded by breaking off diplomatic relations with Kiev.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry strongly rejected the accusations, claiming that the African states made “hasty” decisions without evidence. However, a source within HUR told the French newspaper that the involvement was a “diplomatic error,” while asserting that “there is no going back” and that Kiev remains committed to hunting down Russian contractors “wherever they are.”