Russia has accused Ukraine of opening a “second front” in the war between them in Africa after Mali and Niger broke off diplomatic relations with Kyiv, accusing it of supporting “terrorist groups”.

The claim by Moscow followed an announcement from Niger’s military government on Tuesday that it has cut ties with Ukraine. Several states in West Africa have recently ditched longstanding ties with the West to turn to Russia.

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Niamey said on Tuesday that the change in relations with Ukraine would happen “with immediate effect”.

The move was in line with that of neighbouring Mali’s military government, which on Sunday announced it was severing relations with Kyiv over its role in an attack in the north of the country in which Tuareg rebels said they killed dozens of Wagner mercenaries and Malian soldiers.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military spy agency, said that the Malian rebels had received the “necessary” information to conduct the operation.

“The government of the Republic of Niger learned with great amazement and deep indignation, the subversive and unacceptable remarks of Mr Andriy Yusov,” Amadou Abdramane, a spokesperson for Niger’s military government, said as he announced the diplomatic break.

Niger will ask the United Nations Security Council to debate Ukraine’s “aggression,” he added.

On Monday, Ukraine condemned Mali’s decision to sever relations as short-sighted and hasty, saying Kyiv rejected the allegation of Ukrainian support for international terrorism. Ukraine did not immediately respond about the move by Niger.

Niger and Mali are both run by military governments that took power in recent coups. Both have since ripped up defence agreements with France and turned to Russia for military support.

“Unable to defeat Russia on the battlefield, the criminal regime of Volodymyr Zelenskyy has opened a second front in Africa,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency, as she accused Ukraine of “pandering to terrorist groups in countries on the continent friendly to Moscow.”

Significant hit

On July 25, three days of intense fighting erupted near the Mali-Algeria border at a military camp at Tinzaouatene. Tuareg-led separatists said they had killed 84 fighters from Wagner and 47 Malian soldiers.

Mali’s army has admitted it suffered a “large number” of deaths during the fighting but has not released figures.

As well as condemning Yusov’s comments, Niger, Mali and others in West Africa have blasted those of Ukraine’s ambassador to Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast and Liberia.

Senegal’s foreign ministry summoned Ukrainian ambassador Yurii Pyvovarov on Friday over a video it said the Ukrainian embassy had posted on its Facebook page in which Pyvovarov provided “unequivocal and unqualified support for the terrorist attack” in Mali.

The spat is viewed as a significant hit to Ukraine’s efforts to win global support as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion, and, in particular, to broaden its appeal in the Global South.