Online Reporter
Tamara Ryzhenkova
Alexandr Ivanov, the director of Russia’s Officers union for International Security (OUIS), recently told Russian media that Ukrainian intelligence agencies are using embassies as diplomatic cover to deploy military equipment and instructors to terrorist groups in North Africa and the Sahel region.
At a UN Security Council session, chargé d’affaires of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said there is concrete evidence that Ukrainian intelligence services, including the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, are involved in subversive activities across the Sahel and in other African regions, including the Maghreb.
While this topic has surfaced on various platforms before, it has attracted wide attention following the statements from Russian officials.
Ivanov said Ukraine’s subversive actions in Africa have attracted international attention. He claims there is evidence that Kiev is dispatching drone pilots to Mali to train fighters from local opposition armed groups.
Additionally, reports indicate that Ukrainian intelligence officers are participating in the civil war in Sudan. According to Ivanov, Ukraine has supplied drones to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist group. This could further destabilize the region and potentially ignite a new conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. There are concerns that the ADF plans to launch attacks on the DRC from Ugandan-controlled territories, allowing blame to fall on Ugandan military forces.
In an interview with TASS, Ivanov noted that Ukrainian drone pilots have been spotted in at least five African countries – Mali, Sudan, the DRC, the Central African Republic, and Chad. In all these nations, they support local opposition groups by coordinating attacks against government forces.
“In these countries, Ukrainian militants are working closely with local terrorists, supplying them with drones – including Mavic 3 drones with Ukrainian-made release systems – and providing training. Moreover, they are coordinating the militants’ attacks on the positions of government and allied forces,” Ivanov said.
Citing independent experts, he confirmed that Kiev is supplying equipment to Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Libya. Ukraine is conducting its operations in Africa covertly, through its diplomatic missions in third countries such as Algeria and Mauritania.
Equipment and specialists are allegedly being transported to Mali from neighbouring Mauritania through poorly secured border areas.
Ivanov points out that similar schemes are utilised in other countries.
“The transfer of Ukrainian instructors and drones to ADS militants is carried out through the Ukrainian Embassy in Kinshasa. It has also recently become known that Ukrainian diplomatic staff in Algeria are overseeing the delivery of drones to Africa.”
In this way, Ukraine is engaging in subversive activities in countries that have recently declared their independence from the West, with the intent of turning them into zones of instability.
“For African countries, especially those such as Mali or Burkina Faso, which have only recently gained true sovereignty, such harmful Ukrainian interference threatens another round of instability,” Ivanov said.
On August 20, during a UN Security Council meeting addressing the Secretary-General’s report on threats to international peace and security posed by the Islamic State (IS), Russian envoy Dmitry Polyansky pointed to evidence indicating that Ukrainian specialists and equipment are being deployed to opposition groups in Africa.
“There are concrete facts clearly indicating that Ukrainian intelligence services, including the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence, are engaged in subversive activities in Sahel countries and other regions of Africa. They supply militants with weapons and drones, train them in their use, co-ordinate the actions of terrorists, including the so-called Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims in Mali, and deploy trained mercenaries to act against local governments,” Polyansky said.
He noted that this situation necessitates an international investigation involving competent UN mechanisms, especially since IS has been shifting its geographic focus, increasingly concentrating its efforts in Africa, adapting to local conditions and exploiting political instability and armed conflicts. According to Polyansky, some Western powers whose influence in the Sahel region has waned recently are actively supporting local Islamist groups to further destabilise the already fragile situation.
“We firmly condemn the use of terrorism by certain Western countries as a tool of neo-colonial policy. African states have repeatedly emphasized that instead of the promised support they have faced subversive activities,” he said.
“The allegations circulated by international media lack substantial evidence … Mauritania adheres to a collective security framework in the Sahel region, quietly supporting its neighbours during times of instability and unrest through logistical aid, confidential information sharing, and discreet mediation,” stated the country’s Foreign Ministry.
The ministry also reiterated its neutral stance regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Mauritania voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution condemning violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while simultaneously opposing the suspension of Russia’s membership in the Human Rights Council.
It’s possible that Mauritanian officials may be unaware of the activities of Ukrainian intelligence services on their soil. In May 2024, Kiev announced the opening of its embassy in Nouakchott, which coincided with the escalation of the conflict in Mali. By August 2024, Ukraine officially declared its support for Tuareg separatists and members of the jihadist group Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), a branch of Al-Qaeda in the Sahel.
This announcement came amid a military operation in northern Mali that resulted in casualties among both government troops and some Russian instructors from the Wagner Group.
At that time, Andrey Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, stated that Malian rebels had received crucial intelligence that enabled them to carry out the successful military operation against Russian specialists.
In contrast to Mauritania, the governments of Algeria and Libya have taken the reports of Ukrainian intelligence activities on their territories more seriously. In Libya, the matter has been taken up by the Prosecutor’s Office. Attorney General Al-Siddiq Al-Sour has called for an urgent investigation and the collection of evidence following reports that some opposition movements operating in the country acquired Ukrainian drones through military and diplomatic channels. – RT.com
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