A senior Russian security figure warned that any Ukrainian move to sell “surplus” weapons to African states could see the arms end up with active militant groups on the continent.
Alexander Ivanov, director of the Moscow-based Union of International Security Officers, reacted to recent remarks by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said Kyiv had reached agreements with several African countries to supply surplus weapons produced for Ukraine’s armed forces. Zelensky added that export proceeds would fund systems Ukraine still lacks, without naming the countries or giving a timeline.
Ivanov told Russia’s TASS agency he believes likely end-users include militants in Mali and other members of the Sahel alliance, as well as armed groups in Libya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Citing his organization’s information, he alleged such groups are already receiving Ukrainian arms via various channels and said any formal exports would “be directed to terrorists,” as he put it.
He also reiterated earlier claims from August that Ukraine had dispatched drones and trainers to Libya, Somalia, the DRC, the Central African Republic and Chad. According to Ivanov, those trainers coordinate attacks on government and allied forces and provide drone systems—including Mavic 3 quadcopters fitted with Ukrainian-made launch rigs—along with instruction.
The assertions align with prior Russian accusations that Ukraine aided Azawad rebels in Mali. In July 2024, Malian forces and the Wagner paramilitary group suffered heavy losses in an attack around Tinzaouaten—an operation Ukraine has said it supported.
Ghana, Ivanov suggested, could be among the most ready markets. Zelensky held talks last month with Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, who signalled interest in Ukrainian technology—especially drone production—and in Ukraine’s battlefield know-how.
While many African governments have stayed neutral on the Russia-Ukraine war or expressed sympathy for Moscow due to historic and economic ties, Ghana has been an outlier, condemning what it calls Russia’s invasion since 2022 and backing Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.