Kiev is providing instructors and drones to support “terrorist operations” in Niger and Sudan, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has said
New evidence has emerged of Ukrainian support for militant groups operating in Africa’s Sahara-Sahel region, including through the supply of drones, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
During a briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, Zakharova said Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), with British mediation, has established cooperation with Ukrainian militants. This allegedly includes the delivery of strike UAVs from Kiev and training activities conducted by instructors from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate.
“There is evidence confirming cooperation between the GNU and Ukrainians in organizing and supporting terrorist operations in Sahel countries, including Niger,” Zakharova said, as quoted by the Russian Foreign Ministry press service.
She cited statements attributed to Colonel Fath al-Sayid of the Sudanese military intelligence, who claimed that Ukrainian and Colombian mercenaries fighting alongside Sudan’s militant Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had suffered losses in western Sudan and used Ukrainian-made drones.
According to Zakharova, the activities were linked to the illegal resale of Western-supplied weapons by Ukraine, which she alleged had surfaced among armed groups in multiple African and Middle Eastern countries.
“Such weapons have been reportedly found among terrorist groups in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, the Central African Republic, and Chad,” she said.
In October, Sudan’s army said it had killed “a large number” of foreign fighters, including Ukrainian and Colombian mercenaries, fighting alongside the RSF during clashes in El Fasher, North Darfur. The military said the fighters, some with drone and electronic warfare expertise, had attempted to infiltrate the city outskirts.
In June, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry official told RT that Kiev was also arming the paramilitary group. He said Kiev was doing the West’s “dirty work” by supporting armed groups behind terrorist attacks in Libya, Somalia, and Niger.
Last month, Malian Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maiga accused Ukraine of supplying kamikaze drones to terrorist groups and warned that Western arms deliveries to Kiev could fuel global terrorism. Mali severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine in August 2024, citing Ukrainian officials’ statements claiming responsibility for supporting armed groups involved in a 2024 attack in Tinzaouaten.
