Mali has severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine after a suggestive statement by a top Kyiv official stating their role in the national deadly conflict that led to the death of many Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries.
At least 84 mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers were killed by The northern Tuareg rebels and fighters linked to Al-qaeda in July north of the West African country, in what appeared to be Wagner’s heaviest defeat since it stepped into the conflict two years ago.
On July 29, Andriy Yusov, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR), told the public broadcaster Suspilne that the Malian rebels had received “all the information they needed, which allowed them to carry out their operation against the Russian war criminals”.
Mali said it had learned “with deep shock” of the remarks and that Yusov had “admitted Ukraine’s involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups that resulted in the death of members of the Malian Defence and Security Forces”.
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It said it would break off relations “with immediate effect”, a statement from government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said.
Mali also cited comments by Ukraine’s Ambassador to Senegal Yurii Pyvovarov, who was summoned by Senegal on Saturday over a video published on Facebook in which Pyvovarov provided “unequivocal and unqualified support for the terrorist attack” in Mali, Al-Jazeera reported.
Ukraine’s actions violated Malian sovereignty and constituted unacceptable foreign interference and support for international terrorism, according to Maiga.
Reports say the Malian and Russian forcers were ambushed by Tuareg rebels and fighters from al-Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin while waiting for reinforcements, after retreating from Tinzaouaten.
Neither Mali’s military nor Wagner – which has since morphed into a group called the Africa Corps – have given exact figures, but the estimated death toll for Wagner fighters ranges from 20 to 80.
The Russian mercenary outfit’s losses are thought to be the heaviest it has suffered in Mali since it began helping the military government fight the insurgents two years ago.
Wagner has acknowledged that one of its commanders was killed and a Russian helicopter was downed in “fierce fighting”, saying they had been attacked by around 1,000 fighters.
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More than a decade ago, Mali’s central government lost control of much of the north following a Tuareg rebellion, which was sparked by a demand for a separate state.
The country’s security was then further complicated by the involvement of Islamist militants in the conflict.
When seizing power in coups in 2020 and 2021, the military cited the government’s inability to tackle this unrest.
The new junta severed Mali’s long-running alliance with former colonial power France in favour of Russia, in a bid to quell the unrest.
