Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have asked on Wednesday the UN Security Council to take action against Ukraine and its support for terrorism in Africa, the African countries said in a joint letter.
The joint letter said:
“This is official and unequivocal support by the Ukrainian government for terrorism in Africa, particularly in the Sahel. These acts also constitute a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our States, a clear aggression and support for international terrorism, in flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant international conventions.”
Relations between Ukraine and African countries became strained in August when Andriy Yusov, a military-intelligence spokesman, said that Ukraine was assisting armed groups that attacked members of the Malian Defence and Security Forces in late July in the Tinzaouaten area on the border with Algeria. In this connection, the Malian authorities severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine on August 4.
Ukrainian media published a photo of Tuareg militants involved in the ambush on the Wagner convoy in Mali posing with the Ukrainian flag. The Times also released an article claiming that HUR head Kyrylo Budanov had been plotting an attack on the Wagner in Mali since last year, according to the US National Security Agency. The photo with a Ukrainian flag partially confirms the involvement of the HUR in Mali terrorist attacks.
The same day, 4 August, the Foreign Ministry of Burkina Faso condemned Ukraine’s support for terrorism in Mali and called on the international community to properly assess what is happening in the country. This is how the Burkina Faso authorities reacted to the publication of a video in the account of the Ukrainian embassy in Senegal, which expressed explicit support for the actions of terrorists in Mali.
On August 6, a representative of the Niger government, Amadou Abdramane, said that 48 hours after Mali broke diplomatic relations with Ukraine, Niger did the same.
