Arms provided to Kiev by Western allies are being transferred to groups destabilizing the Sahel region, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry official
Ukraine is training jihadist fighters and supporting terrorist groups in Africa’s Sahel region, a Russian Foreign Ministry official has said, accusing Kiev of funneling Western-supplied weapons to militants operating across the continent.
Tatyana Dovgalenko, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Partnership with Africa, made the remarks on Thursday at the 13th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues in Moscow. Representatives of 104 countries, including African delegations, have gathered at the event to discuss a new global security architecture.
“The Kiev regime continues systematic efforts to destabilize the continent, collaborating with terrorist networks in the Sahel, particularly by training and organizing militants,” Dovgalenko said, according to TASS.
“There is evidence that the arms delivered to Ukraine by Western states are being transferred to terrorist factions operating in various global regions, including Africa,” she added.
Moscow has made terrorism and counter-extremism a central focus of its security cooperation with African states, particularly those in the Sahel, which have been embroiled in a decade-long jihadist insurgency.
Dovgalenko noted that terrorist groups have adapted to modern technologies and shifting counterterrorism strategies, warning that nearly 60% of global terrorism deaths in 2024 occurred in Africa, with the Sahel accounting for 20% of the continent’s attacks.
Ukraine has been at the center of a growing diplomatic storm in the Sahel region since an ambush by Tuareg rebels in July 2024 left dozens of Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner Group contractors dead. Reports have claimed that Ukrainian military intelligence supplied information used in the deadly attack.
Moscow and the Alliance of Sahel States made up of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have jointly denounced Kiev’s “criminal alliance” with extremist groups. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier accused Ukraine of openly abetting terrorists in the region.
Mali cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine in August. Niger followed suit shortly afterwards, with Burkina Faso later confirming its relations with Kiev were effectively frozen. Ukraine has denied the allegations.
Last month, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said Kiev must be held accountable for fueling instability in Africa, which has resulted not only in the deaths of Malian soldiers but also in civilian casualties.
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso officially quit in January, also warned against “foreign interference” that threatens the region’s peace and security.
In a speech on Wednesday marking 50 years since the group’s formation, ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray identified terrorism as one of the “formidable” challenges facing the community and called for collective efforts to address the crisis.
