West African juntas write to UN over Ukraine's alleged rebel support

FILE PHOTO: A man stands in front of a makeshift memorial erected following the 2023 deaths of the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin and group commander Dmitry Utkin, during a commemoration ceremony held to pay tribute to Wagner fighters killed in Mali by northern Tuareg rebels, in central Moscow, Russia August 4, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova/File Photo

BAMAKO (Reuters) - The juntas of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have written to the United Nations Security Council to denounce Ukraine's alleged support of rebel groups in West Africa's Sahel region, a copy of their letter showed.

Mali cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine at the start of the month over comments by a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence agency about fighting in Mali's north that killed Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner mercenaries in late July.