Mali has immediately severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine following comments by a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR) about fighting in Mali’s north in late July, it said on Sunday.
Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels say they have killed at least 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers in days of fierce fighting in the north of the West African country. It appears to be Wagner’s biggest defeat yet since it stepped in two years ago to help Malian military authorities fight rebel groups.
GUR spokesman Andriy Yusov has not confirmed Kiev’s involvement in the fighting, but in comments published on the website of public broadcaster Suspilne on Monday, July 29, he said Malian rebels had received the “necessary” information to launch the attack.
“The rebels got all the necessary information they needed, not just the information that helped (them) conduct a successful military operation against Russian criminals who committed war crimes. We will of course not go into the details of this right now – you will see more about this in the future,” he said.
Mali said she was “deeply shocked to learn of the destructive comments.”
It said Yusov “admitted Ukraine’s involvement in the cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack carried out by armed terrorist groups, which resulted in the deaths of members of the Malian defence and security forces.”
The Malian government said, “The actions taken by the Ukrainian authorities violate Mali’s sovereignty, go beyond the scope of foreign interference, are reprehensible in themselves, and represent a clear aggression by Mali and support for international terrorism.”
It also cited comments by Ukraine’s ambassadors to Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast and Liberia.
Senegal’s foreign minister on Friday summoned Ukrainian Ambassador Yuriy Pyvovarov over a video the Ukrainian embassy said it posted on its Facebook page in which Pyvovarov offered “clear and unconditional support” for a terrorist attack in Mali.
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