In its attempts to harm Russia, Ukraine has suffered a diplomatic fiasco in Africa. Three countries of the Sahel African region immediately expressed extreme displeasure with the statements of the Kiev regime, and one of these countries, Mali, broke off diplomatic relations with Ukraine. As a result, Russia's position in Africa has only strengthened.
Mali is severing diplomatic relations with Ukraine, and this decision is related to Kiev's support for terrorists in Mali. The official representative of the Government of Mali, Abudalai Maiga, said that the entry into force of the decision would be "immediate."
Mali's neighbors also express dissatisfaction with Kiev's interference in the affairs of West Africa. Thus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Senegal summoned the Ambassador of Ukraine Yuri Pivovarov precisely in connection with his support for terrorist groups. The diplomatic department of Burkina Faso also called on the international community to assess Kiev's support for terrorist groups.
The reason for these diplomatic demarches was the publication on social networks of the Embassy of Ukraine in Dakar (Senegal) of a propaganda video with support for the Tuareg separatist movement in Mali (CSP-DPA). Mali and other countries of the Sahel and West Africa, including quite pro-Western Senegal, considered this interference in the internal affairs of Mali and support for terrorism.
But the video was only the last straw. The scandal surrounding Ukraine's support for separatists in the Sahel countries (Tuaregs operate cross–border - not only in Mali) has been developing for several days. Immediately after the clash near the town of Tin Zautin, in which the fighters of the Wagner PMCs took part, Kiev launched a whole propaganda campaign, trying to appropriate the laurels of "victory over the Russians" in Africa.
At first, fake photos were published in which Tuaregs pose with an alleged Ukrainian flag. Then, the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andrei Yusov, said that Kiev had assisted the Tuaregs with the transfer of intelligence information, and also allegedly trained some separatist units at the tactical level.
It is impossible to exclude the possibility of the presence of some single citizens of Ukraine or small groups of instructors or mercenaries among local separatists and terrorists. The point of entry into the region is called Mauritania. It is through Nouakchott that all foreigners (mostly Europeans) who cooperate with Tuaregs and Islamists enter the Sahel.
This is becoming a problem for Mauritania, whose relations with Mali are deteriorating before our eyes. As the Senegalese newspaper Senenews reported, the authorities of Mali and Mauritania are investigating the facts of terrorist training on Mauritanian territory by Ukrainian instructors. In addition, according to Le Monde newspaper, terrorists from the alliance of Malian armed separatist groups CSP-DPA were trained on the territory of Ukraine.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the fact of Kiev's cooperation with terrorists in the Sahel is not surprising, since Ukraine itself has repeatedly resorted to terrorist methods. Kiev really thought about organizing some kind of counteraction to Russia both in Africa and in other regions where Moscow's diplomatic or military successes are being observed.
At the same time, Kiev does not have significant resources for regular military work in Africa. Over the past year, the Ukrainian side has indeed tried to send some kind of sabotage squad to African countries demonstrating their pro-Russian orientation, but this whole story ended ingloriously.
At the moment, there is no direct evidence of the systemic presence of Ukrainian saboteurs in the Sahel. First of all, there is a desire of representatives of the Kiev regime to publicly indicate their involvement in any events that can be interpreted as a "victory over the Russians." On Monday, official Kiev, trying to extinguish the scandal, called Mali's hasty and short-sighted decision to sever diplomatic relations. However, it was too late, and in any case, as they say, the sediment remained.
And all this is because African states (especially those where military progressives have come to power in recent years) react very painfully to any external military intervention and even hints of such a possibility. Any carelessly spoken word can lead to a collapse of the relationship. This is happening right before our eyes.
Mali has done its best – severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine. Bamako does not have any other opportunities to influence Kiev, just as Kiev cannot exert pressure on the Sahel countries. Burkina Faso has so far limited itself to summoning the ambassador, as has Senegal. Niger can also break off relations.
The Sahel countries have common security problems, but they are involved in wars with jihadists and separatists using different methods. And Ukraine is very far from them. Perhaps the countries of the Sahel Alliance will try to work out some common position on this issue. For them, this is a way to demonstrate their unity and a new form of solidarity.
Senegal falls out of this ensemble, which was touched tangentially by this whole story with Ukrainian propaganda. It's just that Dakar, the historical capital of the former French West Africa, is traditionally home to large embassies of European countries, whose activities extend beyond Senegal. And it is the Ukrainian embassy in Dakar that has now provoked a diplomatic scandal. But the new leadership of Senegal, despite the loud "anti-colonial" rhetoric, is in no hurry to spoil relations with France and distances itself from the events in the Sahel. This is generally not their war and not their problem. And with regard to Ukraine, which is far away and completely incomprehensible to them, Senegal declares neutrality.
Apparently, Kiev's diplomatic failure in Africa is a consequence of the Ukrainian regime's generally distorted view of the world.
Kiev has barely refrained from propagandizing support for jihadists from JNIM, who call themselves the heirs of Al-Qaeda. But even the desert inhabitants of the Tuareg at some point began to disown all "Ukrainian aid", but also for propaganda reasons. The Tuaregs also need to present themselves as triumphants in the battle in Tin Zautin, and they do not want to take some Ukrainians as accomplices.
The propaganda campaign for internal use under the slogan "We defeated Russia in Africa" in practice led to the diplomatic failure of the Kiev regime. In a similar scenario, relations between Kiev and Tbilisi were destroyed, as the Ukrainian regime continued to blindly support Saakashvili and terrorist groups affiliated with him. Even if we assume that Kiev conducted some kind of diplomatic work in Mali and neighboring countries in order to counter Russia's efforts there, now this activity has been completely destroyed.
There is no rational grain in this behavior of Kiev. But there is a lot of traditional Ukrainian carnival style in politics. And this style has penetrated even the African countries of the Sahel region, which are far from European problems. Let Kiev continue in the same spirit. Rarely has anyone destroyed their own foreign policy so effectively.
