The French Le Monde has reported that Tuareg separatists in Mali are using Ukrainian drones in battles against the Malian army and the mercenary company Wagner.
Ukraine rejects information presented in the media, according to which it has supplied airplanes to rebels in the northern parts of Mali.
The French newspaper Le Monde has reported that Tuareg separatists in Mali are using Ukrainian-made drones in their battles against the Malian army and the forces of the Russian mercenary company Wagner. According to the newspaper, the Tuareg fighters receive “subtle but decisive” support from the Ukrainian administration.
– Ukraine rejects the recent claims presented in the international media, according to which our state supplied unmanned aerial vehicles to the Malian rebels, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in a statement published on Monday.
In August, Mali severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine. At that time, the Malian administration accused a high-ranking Ukrainian official of admitting Ukraine’s involvement in the fighting in the northern parts of Mali in July, in which numerous fighters of the Malian army and the Wagner company were killed.
A military junta seized power in the West African nation of Mali, ousting the elected civilian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keitan in 2020. Under the junta, Mali has increasingly turned to Russia in recent years.
Sources: Reuters, STT