Ukraine denies it aids rebels in Mali
Source: Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On Monday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement dismissing recent media reports of Kyiv’s involvment in supplies of drones to rebels in Mali.
“We also strongly contest all accusations that periodically arise from high-ranking officials of the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger, alleging Ukraine’s collaboration with terrorists, supplying arms to these terrorists, and providing them with intelligence. These claims have no basis in reality,” the statement asserted.
The ministry reminded the public that back in September, Kyiv had already provided a detailed rebuttal to such accusations. They expressed regret over Mali and Niger’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with Ukraine based on unfounded and baseless assumptions.
The Foreign Affairs office dismissed all allegations suggesting Ukraine’s involvement in the flow of weapons and military equipment into the Sahel region, which its allies supply to counter the ongoing armed aggression from the Russian Federation.
The ministry emphasized that from the very first months of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine took the lead in initiating a comprehensive monitoring and control system for the weapons supplied by Western partners. It includes not only international and governmental monitoring tools but also parliamentary oversight regarding the use of Western arms in Ukraine.
Over the past two and a half years of Russian aggression, Ukraine’s allies have not found any instances of misuse of the military aid provided to Ukraine.
Ukraine called on the governments of Mali and Niger to stop spreding any false information that echoes the deceitful narratives planted by Russia as they only aim to discredit Ukraine and justify Russia’s unprovoked, unjustifiable, and illegal war against Ukraine.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.