Ukraine Weighs Sahel Deployment as Mali Ties Strain Its African Alliances

A CNN investigation published in September reported that about 15 Ukrainian drone specialists are supporting Tuareg rebels in northern Mali, working alongside the Azawad Liberation Front against the Malian military government and its Russian allies. The claim sits at the center of a dispute over whether Kyiv's war with Moscow is spreading to Africa, and what that spread might cost Ukraine in relations with other states on the continent.

Marta Oliynyk-D'omochko, who coordinates the African Studies Program at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, said Ukraine's motive is to weaken Russian influence worldwide. Russian historian Irina Filatova, professor emeritus at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, called Ukrainian support for the Tuareg plausible but said she has no independent evidence to confirm it. CNN reported the Ukrainians supplied drone training, operational planning and remote support for drone missions; Deutsche Welle has not verified those claims.

The Malian government's Russian partners have moved deeper into the Sahel since military coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021 pushed Bamako toward Moscow. The Wagner Group was replaced by the Africa Corps in 2025. Ulf Laessing, who headed the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Sahel program in Mali, said the Africa Corps still uses Syria and Libya as transit points for flights from Russia carrying fuel and cargo to support operations on the continent. Filatova said setbacks in Mali could tie up Russian resources and weaken Moscow's standing as a security partner.

The FLA seeks self-determination or broad autonomy in northern Mali rather than control of Bamako, and Oliynyk-D'omochko described the arrangement with Ukraine as tactical. The FLA cooperates with Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, a group affiliated with al-Qaeda. Any Ukrainian assistance to the FLA could reach Islamist fighters through joint operations or shared equipment. Cooperation between Tuareg and Islamist groups dates to the period after Muammar al-Gaddafi was ousted and killed in October 2011, when armed Tuareg fighters returned to Mali; Iyad Ag Ghaly, who now leads JNIM, took part in the Tuareg rebellion before turning to jihadism.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, all under military governments, have cut diplomatic ties with Kyiv and deepened cooperation with Russia. In September, Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told the United Nations that Ukraine was "providing clear and open support to terrorist groups and other mafia-like groups to undermine our country's territorial integrity," AFP reported. Diop supplied no evidence. Filatova and Oliynyk-D'omochko both said they have found no proof to substantiate the accusations.

Kyrylo Budanov, formerly head of Ukraine's military intelligence and now chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on X on September 7 that Ukrainian intelligence protects the country's interests worldwide, "from Russia to Africa .. in the burning desert sands and in the snows of icy Antarctica.." He did not name Mali. Ukraine's military intelligence agency told Deutsche Welle it might provide information at a later date, and did not answer questions about personnel in Mali or safeguards against JNIM benefiting from any support.