Mali cuts diplomatic ties with Ukraine, accusing it of aiding a rebel attack in the African country

Associated Press

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s government says it has diplomatic ties with Ukraine accusing Kyiv of aiding a rebel attack that killed dozens of Wagner mercenaries and Malian soldiers in July. In a statement on Sunday, Mali’s government cited comments made by a Ukrainian official last week saying that the rebel groups received all the information they needed from Ukraine to carry out the attack. Ukraine’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, says that Mali hasn’t provided any evidence of the country’s involvement in the attack. Dozens of Russia’s Wagner mercenaries and Malian soldiers were killed by jihadis and rebels during the July attack in northern Mali, in what one analyst described as the largest battleground blow to the Wagner group in years.