Africa-Press. Russia has accused Ukraine of providing active support to terrorist groups in the Sahel region, particularly in Mali, according to a statement by Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, during a UN Security Council session focused on terrorist threats.
In his remarks, Nebenzia said: “We are forced to acknowledge that a number of actors from outside the region continue to cooperate with terrorists. The Kyiv regime is actively involved, supplying terrorists with weapons, including drones, and training militants. Cooperation with the Ukrainians is particularly active in Mali, where last year’s terrorist attacks on fuel convoys, attempts to besiege Malian cities, and the killing of civilians were carried out with the help of external forces.”
The Russian envoy urged the international community to take urgent action to stop the flow of weapons to armed groups in Africa, stating: “We call on the international community to take effective measures to prevent weapons and their components from falling into the hands of terrorists. Supplying militants with weapons must not go unpunished.”
He added that Africa is suffering not only from what he described as direct support from Kyiv to terrorists, but also from the spread of Western weapons supplied to Ukraine and then diverted through black markets to armed groups across the continent, stressing that such trafficking operations are “steadily increasing.”
In December 2025, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said that Western countries and Ukraine were supporting terrorist groups in Africa to undermine the interests of Russia and other states in the region. Branches of ISIS and al-Qaeda have been active in the Sahel for more than a decade, contributing to instability in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
