Mali Accuses Ukraine of Arming Terrorists with Drones

(MENAFN) In a pointed address at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Malian Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga leveled serious accusations against Ukraine, asserting that it has been supplying terrorist factions with “kamikaze drones.”

Maiga warned that ongoing Western military aid to Kiev could escalate the threat of global terrorism, and he strongly appealed to the international community to cease all arms shipments to Ukraine.

Mali formally severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine in August 2024.

This decision followed a lethal assault on a Malian army patrol in July of the previous year, which occurred in Tinzaouaten, a key border settlement between Mali and Algeria.

The Malian administration in Bamako cited remarks made by senior Ukrainian representatives—specifically, Defense Intelligence Directorate spokesperson Andrey Yusov and Ukraine’s Ambassador to Senegal, Yury Pivovarov—who publicly acknowledged Ukraine’s role in supporting armed factions in the region.

“The Ukrainian regime has become one of the main suppliers of kamikaze drones to terrorist groups around the world,” Maiga stated during his speech.

“In this regard, some Western countries should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, because they risk contributing to the promotion of international terrorism.”

The assertions made by Mali align with earlier statements from Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who claimed Ukraine was assisting insurgent groups in African nations aligned with Moscow, as a result of its setbacks in its military confrontation with Russia.

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