Weapons being sent to armed groups must not go unpunished, Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia has said
Russia has taken Ukraine’s alleged involvement in terrorism in Africa to the UN, warning that Kiev is actively supplying weapons and training militants operating across the continent, particularly in the Sahel.
The allegations were made by Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia on Wednesday during a UN Security Council briefing on threats to international peace and security posed by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
Nebenzia praised African states for confronting extremist groups “on the front lines,” but said their efforts are being undermined by external actors. He accused unnamed countries of supporting terrorists, “using them as a tool for advancing their geopolitical agendas,” and condemned what he described as attempts to reassert “erstwhile colonial influence in Africa.”
The Russian envoy cited a series of recent incidents, including “an attempted assassination of President of Burkina Faso Ibrahim Traore” last month, and an IS-claimed attack on Niger’s main airport, where, he said, “a Western trace was detected.”
“The Kiev regime is actively involved in this sordid affair, supplying terrorists with weapons, including drones, and training fighters,” Nebenzia told the council.
According to him, Mali has been the clearest example of Ukraine’s involvement. He said that “last year’s terrorist attacks on fuel tanks, attempts to blockade Malian cities, and killings of civilians were perpetrated in collusion with external forces.”
Ukraine has been at the center of a diplomatic storm in the Sahel since an ambush by Tuareg rebels in July 2024 left dozens of Malian soldiers dead. Reports have claimed that Ukrainian military intelligence supplied information used in the deadly attack.
Last September, 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. A Sudanese Foreign Ministry official also told RT in June that Kiev was arming a paramilitary group battling Sudan’s army in a brutal conflict that has raged since April 2023.
Nebenzia also warned that, beyond Kiev’s alleged direct support for terrorists, Western weapons delivered to Ukraine have contributed to arms proliferation in Africa “via the black market,” insisting that “supplying weapons to fighters must not go unpunished.”
