Ukraine has accused Russia of orchestrating the military coup in Niger Republic, while calling the political instability in the West African country “standard Russian tactic.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the social media outlet X (formally known as Twitter), said Russia was behind the toppling of the democratically elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum, according to Al Jazeera.
“It is now absolutely clear that Russia is behind the so-called ‘military coup’ in Niger. It is a standard Russian tactic: to divert attention, seize the moment and expand the conflict,” he said.
Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, the head of Niger's presidential guard, with other members of Niger's armed forces, removed Bazoum and declared himself head of a transitional government on the national television called it 'the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland."
This was the seventh military coup in Niger in less than three years, which the Ukrainian President's aide said was plotted by the Russians. Taking to his official handle on social media outlet X (known as Twitter previously), Podolyak wrote, 'It is now absolutely clear that Russia is behind the so-called 'military coup' in Niger.
It is a standard Russian tactic: to divert attention, seize the moment and expand the conflict.' He continued, 'Russia has a global scenario for provoking instability to undermine the global security order."
"Its time to draw the right conclusion: only the removal of [Russian President] Putin's clan and sending Russia to the political rebirth can guarantee the inviolability of rules and stability to the world," Podolyak maintained.
Russia on Tuesday condemned the coup in Niger saying that the political upheaval in the African country was a 'cause for serious concern' evoking the coup attempt by the mercenaries of PMC Wagner led by their boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, which was deterred by Moscow.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia appealed to all sides in Niger to show restraint and return to the legal order. Ukraine's Podolyak, however, claimed that military juntas in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, where the Wagner Group is based have been playing "an active role" in the coup. Russia has 'a global scenario for provoking instability to undermine the global security order," Zelenksyy's advisor stressed.
The White House responded to the Ukrainian remarks, saying that there was "no indication" that Russia was behind the military coup that overthrew Niger's democratically-elected president. US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters during a briefing that the Biden administration has "no indication that Russia was behind this, Russia's militarily supporting it in any way, or in any way effectively supporting it."