Mali has cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine after Kyiv suggested a tip off from its intelligence services had allowed rebels to massacre a force of government troops and Russian mercenaries.
Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels claim they killed at least 84 mercenaries from the Kremlin-backed Wagner group along with 47 Malian soldiers over days of fierce fighting late last month.
The massacre near the Algerian border appeared to be Wagner’s heaviest defeat since it stepped in two years ago to help Mali’s military authorities fight insurgent groups.
Soon afterwards, a spokesman for Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence service said Malian rebels had received the “necessary” information to conduct the attack.
Andriy Yusov said: “The rebels received all the necessary information they needed, and not just the information, which allowed (them) to conduct a successful military operation against Russian perpetrators of war crimes.
“We certainly won’t go into details now – you will see more of this in the future,” he said.
Mali has now said it learned “with deep shock of the subversive remarks”.
It said Mr Yusov had “admitted Ukraine’s involvement in a cowardly, treacherous and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups that resulted in the death of members of the Malian defence and security forces”.
“The actions taken by the Ukrainian authorities violate the sovereignty of Mali, go beyond the scope of foreign interference, which is already condemnable in itself, and constitute a clear aggression against Mali and support for international terrorism,” the Malian government said.
Ukraine meanwhile launched a fresh diplomatic push in several African countries to drum up support in its war with Russia.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, will this week visit Malawi, Zambia and Mauritius to discuss “the participation of African states in global efforts to restore a just peace for Ukraine and the world”.
Russia has significantly extended its influence on the continent in recent years and many African countries have been reluctant to condemn Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
A number of African countries took part in a conference on Ukraine hosted by Switzerland in June but they have mostly been reluctant to join Western efforts to isolate Russia, an important supplier of energy and commodities.