Illustrative image. (Telegram)
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on November 6 that Ukrainian military intelligence is training drone operators in Mali, adding to evidence of Kyiv’s military involvement with separatist groups fighting Malian government forces and their Russian allies.
SVR Deputy Director Mikhail Maksimovich made the statement during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s SCO Plus security dialogue in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
“According to SVR information, representatives of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry are organizing training courses for drone pilots, including kamikaze drones, in African territory, specifically in Mali,” Maksimovich said.
He added that “international terrorist organizations show high interest in cooperating with the Kiev regime to obtain technology for deployment of UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles].”
The announcement follows a September 12 investigation by CNN that provided details of Ukrainian military personnel operating in northern Mali.
The investigation, based on interviews with Ukrainian soldiers and officers involved in overseas operations, reported that approximately 15 Ukrainian specialists had been deployed to assist the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a predominantly Tuareg separatist movement fighting Malian government forces and their Russian allies.
According to CNN, the Ukrainian specialists were providing drone training, operational planning and remote assistance during missions.
A Ukrainian military intelligence source also told CNN that troops from Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso had traveled to Mali to receive drone warfare training from Ukrainian personnel.
One of the Ukrainian operators even described to the broadcaster his role in coordinating militants’ drone missions in Mali remotely.
“I coordinate their operations remotely. The signal from their drone comes to me over the internet, and I immediately tell them via radio what to do and where to fly,” he said.
A subsequent investigation published by Deutsche Welle on October 26 examined Ukraine’s suspected involvement and its broader implications for the conflict.
The outlet reported growing indications of Ukrainian military assistance to Tuareg separatists, although it noted that it had not independently verified CNN’s findings.
The FLA has also cooperated militarily with Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist group. Although the reported Ukrainian assistance has been directed toward the separatist movement, its cooperation with JNIM raises the possibility that JNIM could indirectly benefit from Ukrainian training and operational expertise.
Despite the reported support, the FLA has suffered repeated setbacks over the past several months. Its joint offensive with JNIM in July, aimed primarily at capturing the strategic town of Anéfis, failed. In October, the separatists announced a withdrawal from Kidal, which they had captured in April, following a sustained campaign of Malian and Russian strikes. Malian troops and Russia’s Africa Corps subsequently re-entered the city on October 6.
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