Mali cuts ties with Ukraine amid accusations of involvement in deadly clashes
Mali has announced that it is severing diplomatic ties with Ukraine. This occurred after Kyiv suggested it played a role in last month's clashes near the Algerian border, with dozens of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group losing their lives.
Dozens of Malian soldiers and Wagner Group mercenaries were killed during several days of fighting with Tuareg separatists and militants linked to Al-Qaeda.
Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said that the rebels received the "necessary information" to carry out the attacks. Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, who serves as a government spokesman, expressed his government's shock at this claim and accused Ukraine of violating Mali's sovereignty.
[Yussov's comments] "admitted Ukraine's involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups," said Col. Maiga, as quoted by the BBC.
Malian and Russian soldiers fell into an ambush by Tuareg rebels and fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked organization Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) while waiting for reinforcements. Neither the Malian military nor the Wagner Group — which recently transformed into a group called the Africa Corps — has provided exact figures on their losses. The estimated number of fatalities among Wagner fighters ranges from 20 to 80.
The Malian army has only admitted to sustaining significant losses during several days of gunfire exchanges that began on July 25. The clashes occurred in the desert near Tinzaouaten, a northeastern town on the Algerian border.
The losses of the Russian mercenary unit are considered the heaviest they have suffered in Mali since they began helping the government fight insurgents two years ago. Tuareg separatists claim they killed 84 Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers.
The Wagner Group has been present in Mali since 2021. Following a coup, France withdrew its peacekeeping forces from the country. At that time, the country's interim president, Assimi Goita, invited Russian mercenaries to replace them.
