Ukraine is expanding its military activity beyond the war’s main battlefield, with Ukrainian drone specialists helping forces fighting Russian troops in Mali and operating in other parts of Africa, according to CNN.

The deployments mark a growing effort by Kyiv to challenge Russia in regions where Moscow has expanded its own military presence. Ukrainian forces are using expertise developed during the full-scale invasion, particularly in drone warfare, to support partners operating against Russian troops.

Around 15 Ukrainian drone specialists are reportedly deployed in northern Mali, where they are supporting the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front in its fight against Russian forces and Mali’s military government. Several Ukrainian specialists are also reportedly operating in Sudan and Libya, according to a Ukrainian intelligence source cited by CNN.

Ukrainian drone specialists in Mali

The Ukrainian personnel in northern Mali are not directly fighting on the front line, CNN reported. Instead, they are helping train local forces and supporting their drone operations against Russian and Malian government forces.

The cooperation centers on the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, which has been fighting Mali's military government and Russian forces operating alongside it.

Ukraine's involvement with the Tuareg rebels dates back to at least 2024. After a July 2024 ambush near Tinzaouaten killed dozens of Wagner and Malian troops, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said the rebels had received “necessary information.” Kyiv later denied that it had provided substantial assistance.

The relationship has since developed further. CNN reported that Ukrainian specialists assisted the rebels during fighting earlier this year, when Tuareg and al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked Russian forces and forced them to withdraw from the area around Kidal.

The cooperation does not reflect a broader political or ideological alignment between Kyiv and the Tuareg. Ukrainian personnel told CNN that the two sides are working together because they face a common enemy: Russian forces.

“Culture and religion are different, but when you are being attacked by the same idiots, ideological differences fade into the background,” a Ukrainian Defense Intelligence source told CNN.

The source said that operations against Russian forces abroad can also serve Kyiv’s war effort at home by putting additional pressure on Moscow.

“It puts pressure on them. This whole story has both psychological and real results,” he said.

The Ukrainian presence in Mali also appears to have a training role extending beyond the Tuareg. A Ukrainian Defense Intelligence source familiar with the operations told CNN that troops from Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso had previously traveled to Mali to receive drone training from Ukrainian soldiers.

Challenging Russia's African foothold

Russia has significantly expanded its military presence in Africa since the withdrawal of French and other Western forces from the Sahel.

The Africa Corps, which grew out of Wagner after the death of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, has become an important instrument of Moscow's influence in the region. Russian forces provide military support to authoritarian governments including Mali's while helping protect regimes that have pushed out Western forces.

For Ukraine, supporting forces fighting Russia in Africa provides another way to put pressure on Moscow outside Ukraine.

A Ukrainian intelligence source told CNN that overseas deployments also allow Kyiv to use the military expertise it has accumulated during the war as a tool of foreign policy and build security relationships with other countries.

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Ukraine's military footprint extends further

Mali and Sudan are part of a wider Ukrainian effort to deploy military expertise abroad.

Ukraine has also developed a military presence in Libya. An RFI investigation published in March reported that more than 200 Ukrainian officers and technical specialists were based at three locations in western Libya with the approval of the Tripoli-based government.

CNN has now confirmed, citing Ukrainian sources, that Ukrainian naval-drone specialists have used a military base in Misrata to launch attacks against Russian shadow-fleet vessels while training Libyan forces.

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Ukrainian teams have also traveled to several Middle Eastern countries to train local forces in countering Shahed-type drone attacks from Iran, which intensified its drone campaign after the start of the US-Iran war earlier this year. Such deployments build on Ukraine's extensive experience defending against Russia's large-scale drone campaigns.

The activities point to a broader shift in how Ukraine is using its wartime capabilities. Drone warfare developed to defend Ukrainian territory is increasingly being used to build partnerships, support forces fighting Russia and pursue Russian military and economic interests far beyond the front line.

For Moscow, that creates a new challenge as it tries to expand its own military footprint abroad.

Russia struck a passenger train just two kilometers from Ukraine’s border with Poland on 13 September, as Moscow continued a second day of attacks on Ukraine’s railway network and expanded strikes against transport and logistics infrastructure far from the front line.

Russia is increasingly using its expanding drone fleet to reach transport, logistics, industrial and civilian infrastructure deep inside Ukraine. Western regions, long considered safer because of their distance from the front, are now seeing strikes on railways and border crossings, making even civilian travel and routes out of the country increasingly dangerous.

The latest attack took place in Ukraine’s north-western Volyn Oblast, near the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland. According to Ukraine’s state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia, a Russian drone struck the locomotive of a passenger train.

A monitoring team detected the threat in advance and warned the train crew, preventing casualties. The railway operator said trains to Warsaw and back were already running again after the strike, although with significant delays.

A gas station was also struck in a Russian drone strike near the Yahodyn crossing, causing a large fire, according to UNN, adding to the danger around a key transport route between Ukraine and Poland.

Poland also issued an air-raid alert for areas near the Ukrainian border, including Włodawa, Łęczyński and Świdnik counties and the cities of Chełm and Krasnystaw.

The attacks came alongside Russian strikes on railway infrastructure in several other parts of Ukraine.

Update: Diplomatic train may have been Russian drone’s target

Update 19:00: Ukrzaliznytsia later said a diplomatic train carrying security advisers from several EU member states and former European leaders, including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had been at Yahodyn shortly before the strike. Another train at the station during the attack carried former CIA Director David Petraeus.

Ukrzaliznytsia said the Russian drone may have been targeting the diplomatic train, which departed earlier than scheduled as railway staff adjusted train movements in real time because of the ongoing threat of Russian strikes. The operator said it continues to change routes and schedules as tracks are damaged or blocked by attacks.

Russia targets railways across Ukraine

Ukrzaliznytsia said this was the second consecutive day of Russian attacks on the railway network.

On 12 September, Russian drones struck railway facilities in Lutsk, Volyn Oblast, including a passenger train, as well as Fastiv, Kyiv Oblast. Passengers were evacuated after the threat was detected.

Ukrzaliznytsia said its monitoring center and railway personnel remain on heightened alert as Russia continues targeting the network. Evacuations and diversions have caused delays on several routes, including services toward Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih.

Russia also attacked a railway infrastructure site in Vinnytsia Oblast on 13 September, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. 

Russia’s drone campaign is expanding

Russian attacks are increasingly reaching critical infrastructure and civilian areas across Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia struck energy facilities, railway sites, businesses and residential buildings during the latest wave of attacks, including missile and drone strikes on Odesa.

Zelenskyy said Russia had launched around 2,100 drones against Ukraine in the past week, alongside nearly 1,700 guided aerial bombs and 78 missiles.

He said Russia is using jet-powered Geran drones to “destroy the economy and destroy people’s lives.”

Russia has sharply increased its use of upgraded Geran attack drones in recent months, which are faster than earlier versions and can cover the long distances needed to strike targets deep inside Ukraine. Their growing speed and scale are putting additional pressure on Ukraine’s air-defense system, which has to detect and intercept large numbers of drones across the country.

“Russia’s terrorism is a common threat for many,” Zelenskyy said, arguing that the threat must be defeated in Ukraine rather than allowed to spread further into Europe.

Border crossings increasingly targeted

The strike near Yahodyn comes after Russia began targeting Ukrainian border crossings farther from the front line.

Since late August, Russian forces have struck at least five Ukrainian crossings with Moldova and NATO member Romania. The crossings handle civilian traffic, trade and logistics that are increasingly important to Ukraine as the war continues.

On 9 September, Russian drones struck the Starokozache crossing with Moldova, killing two civilians and injuring three others. One Russian drone entered Moldovan airspace and flew toward Romania, prompting NATO aircraft conducting air-policing duties to scramble.

Russia also struck the Orlivka ferry crossing on the Romanian border twice in early September.

The attacks prompted growing concern in Poland. On 10 September, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland expected Russia could target Ukrainian border crossings with Poland as Moscow expands its strikes against transport and logistics routes.

Tusk said Poland had received intelligence indicating that similar attacks could occur against crossings involving other countries. He also warned that Poland and Europe needed to prepare for different scenarios along Europe’s eastern flank.

The strike near Yahodyn came only three days after that warning.

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“Russia is trying to expand the geography of its terror”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia was deliberately expanding the geography of its attacks.

“Moscow tries to expand the geography of its terror,” Sybiha said, arguing that Russia is trying to turn the entire territory of Ukraine into a battlefield as it fails to achieve its objectives on the front.

He said Moscow was targeting “civilians, trains, and the infrastructure that keeps the country moving.”

Sybiha called for stronger air defenses, interceptors and counter-drone capabilities, as well as measures targeting Russia’s drone production and supply chains.

In a separate statement after the Yahodyn attack, Sybiha said Russia’s strikes near the Polish border were “not just a continuation of its attacks on our state borders.”

“This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners,” he said, urging European countries to respond with stronger sanctions.

Attacks moving closer to NATO

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said members of his ministry had been stuck at the same Ukrainian-Polish border crossing only hours before the latest images emerged because of the Russian drone threat.

“Russia’s attacks are becoming more intense and moving ever closer to NATO and the EU,” Tsahkna said.