Russia says Ukraine opening 'second front' in Africa

MOSCOW

Russia on Wednesday said Ukraine was opening a "second front" in Africa after Mali and Niger broke off diplomatic relations with Kiev, accusing it of support for "terrorist groups."

"Unable to defeat Russia on the battlefield, the criminal regime of Volodymyr Zelensky has opened a second front in Africa," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the RIA Novosti news agency.

Zakharova accused Ukraine of "pandering to terrorist groups in countries on the continent friendly to Moscow."

Tuareg-led separatists have said they killed 84 fighters from Russia's Wagner mercenary group and 47 Malian soldiers in an attack last month in northern Mali.

Mali accused a senior Ukrainian official of having admitted Kiev's role in the attack and broke off diplomatic relations on Aug. 5.

Government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said the government had been shocked to learn of remarks by Andriy Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence agency, the GUR.

Yusov had "admitted Ukraine's involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups" that had led to the deaths of Malian soldiers, Maiga's statement added.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Yusov said the whole world was aware that the rebels "had received the necessary data that allowed them to carry out their operation against the Russian war criminals."

Niger said on Aug. 6 it too was cutting diplomatic ties with Ukraine "with immediate effect."

Referring to the same attack in Mali, Niger said it would ask the U.N. Security Council to debate Ukraine's "aggression," government spokesman Amadou Abdramane said in a televised statement.

Niger and Mali are both run by military governments that took power in recent coups, going on to rip up defense agreements with France and turn to Russia for military help.