Ukraine accuses Russia with sending mercenaries to Africa to support unconstitutional regimes and plunder natural resources

Ukraine has accused Russia of sending “mercenaries and private armies to African countries to support unconstitutional regimes, plunder natural resources, sow chaos and destabilization, and commit numerous war crimes”.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “It’s regrettable that Russia is seeking to transfer its war and hostility with Ukraine to the African continent… We strongly condemn its attempts to drag African countries into political conflicts that have nothing to do with them”.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry affirmed that Ukraine “is keen to develop its bilateral relations with its African partners without interference from any third parties… We consider the escalation of Russian misleading campaigns against Ukraine to be an attempt by Moscow to hinder the growing momentum in our relations with the countries of the continent over the past years”.

The statement explained that she has recently observed a significant escalation in the pace of Russian disinformation campaigns directed against our country on the African continent,

Also, the statement noted that Russian officials, media outlets, and bloggers linked to Russia “are spreading baseless allegations and fabrications, falsely accusing Ukraine of so-called dangerous activities, undermining the foundations of statehood and sovereignty in independent African states, supplying weapons and supporting illegal armed groups, plotting to destabilize countries or even entire regions on the continent, and other baseless lies”.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced its rejection of all these Russian allegations, which are completely devoid of any basis or evidence, stressing Ukraine’s commitment to developing its relations with African countries on the basis of mutual respect, for the sake of prosperity, progress, and strengthening sovereignty.

Alexander Ivanov, director of the Russian International Security Officers Association, said a few days ago that “Ukrainian equipment and fighters are passing through poorly guarded border areas with Mauritania, all the way to Mali”.

“For African countries, especially Mali and Burkina Faso, which only recently regained their true sovereignty, this harmful Ukrainian interference threatens another round of instability,” Ivanov told Russian TASS news agency.

He noted that Ukrainian diplomatic personnel in Algeria are supervising the delivery of drones to Africa.