NAIROBI, October 10. /TASS/. Ukrainian specialists started training terrorists in Mali for confrontation with government troops in 2024, with a special focus on battlefield tactics and the knack of making drones loaded with explosives, the daily Le Monde reports.
According to the newspaper, the cooperation of Kiev's special services with the rebels began this year after their defeat in Kidal, which was liberated by the Malian army in November 2023. Some militants moved to Ukraine via Mauritania, where they were trained to make drones packed with explosives. Some of the terrorists were also trained by Ukrainian military instructors on the ground in the militant-controlled northern part of Mali, the newspaper quoted sources linked to the Ukrainian intelligence as saying.
According to AES INFO, the official information resource of the Alliance of Sahel States, which includes Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the militants again traveled to Ukraine via Moldova in September for more training. They were assisted by Western intermediaries.
At the same time, the militants themselves denied purchasing drones from Ukraine, claiming that they had acquired them on the black market in Libya. According to the newspaper, citing military experts, this type of weaponry is unable to play a crucial role in the fight against the Malian army, which is superior to the militants in terms of equipment and training.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the Kiev regime was ready to collude with radicals in attempts to harm African countries friendly to Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the UN General Assembly that Ukraine's contacts with terrorist organizations in Mali and other countries had been proven.
On August 20, the authorities of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger sent a letter to the president of the UN Security Council in which they strongly condemned the Ukrainian government's open support for international terrorism, in particular, that in the Sahel region. Mali and then Niger also announced the severing of diplomatic relations with Kiev over its support for terrorists.