Global multipolar war – How Ukraine, France & NATO are exporting war on Russia to North & West Africa
Dr Petrus de Kock / BUITEBOER
In 2023, the Russian political philosopher Alexander Dugin opined in an interview with RT, that the Ukraine war is the world’s first ‘multipolar war’. At the time Dugin argued that the war Russia is fighting in Ukraine is, “…for the right of every civilization to choose its own path while the West wishes to maintain its totalitarian hegemonic globalism.” [1]
It is argued below that the war for multipolarity, or, global multipolar war, as Dugin argues, has long since spilled over the borders of Ukraine, and can be seen manifesting in several other conflict zones. In this case, Mali, and Libya.
Albeit not the topic of this article, it is necessary to observe that the Iran conflict is also, certainly, a manifestation of the exact same multipolar war. Nevertheless, while the world’s attention is, for now, focused on the Israel-US-Iran war, in particular on the contest of blockades assailing the Strait of Hormuz, several other conflicts, and security/military incidents of global significance are getting lost in the noise. A significant escalation of armed insurgency and conflict in Mali is one case in point, which requires more than a mere myopic analysis, or blow by blow account, of who is shooting at whom.
The ‘sudden’ Mali insurgency
On 25 April, 2026, AlJazeera reported on simultaneous ‘surprise attacks’ launched by a veritable who’s who of extremists that have been upsetting the Sahelian apple cart since the fall of Gaddafi in Libya. The Tuareg-led, Azawad Liberation Front, and the Al-Qaeda affiliate, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) launched simultaneous attacks on Bamako (where the Minister of Defence got killed), Gao, and Kidal focusing on military and security targets.
Russian military assets deployed in the country also drew fire, and what makes the latter even more significant is the fact that the Russian Ministry of Defence issued a statement indicating that its African Corp forces played a central role in preventing an armed coup from toppling the Malian government. This is also the point where the proverbial geopolitical plot thickens. [2]
The fall of Gaddafi
The horror that befell Muamar Gaddafi, and Libya, when he was hunted down and slain on the street, led, of course, by neocon NATO unilateralists, can be seen as the onset of a phase of continuous instability – and more importantly, geopolitical rivalry for control and influence over the Sahel region.
Not only did Libya descend into a cauldron of internal conflict brought about, ironically, by the so-called principle of R2P (the Right to Protect – used by NATO unilateralists to justify their random aerial bombardment of the country and Muamar Gaddafi’s murder), but, significant numbers of Tuareg, who served in Libyan armed forces, fled the country with looted weapons in tow. [3]
The fall of Libya, thus impact the entire region, and consequently from 2012, northern Mali suffered under punishing attacks by Tuareg, and allied Islamist forces (including, of course al Qaeda), leading to the somewhat short lived establishment of the ‘Republic of Azawad’. While some may think this is irrelevant history, it is most certainly not, due to the fact that the same forces are clearly in 2026 still a threat not only to the stability of Mali, but, have become a proxy force of NATO, France, and the Ukraine (yes, you read right). But why do we say so?
France frogmarched out of the SAHEL
Before getting to the Ukraine-NATO-Libya-Mali nexus, it should be stated that while it is not possible to recite all relevant historical facts in a short article as this, another geopolitical earthquake shook the Sahel, the tremors of which are still being felt today, pertains to the actions take by three African countries – Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, to expel French military forces, corporations and diplomats from their territories. [4] Borrowing some words from Alexander Dugin, it can be argued that the actions by these countries are well aligned with that he calls actions against western totalitarian hegemonic globalism.
Between 2022, and 2023, Mali and Burkina Faso moved against French forces, thus not only giving the French the proverbial boot, but, finalising the process of decolonisation that started multiple decades ago. Not only did the actions of these three countries stem from a political desire to claim full sovereignty over their polities, but, served a notice to ‘Club Western World’ (particularly former European colonial powers) that African countries, at least some, no longer stand as pawns in the ‘Great Geopolitical Games’ played by unilateral, unipolar, western powers across chessboard Africa.
In the wake of the French the Russian Federation steps into the region, providing military and political support to the countries that have finally shaken colonial shackles. With France evicted from several countries in the Sahel region, and popular support calling for Russian involvement, the stage became set for Dugin’s multipolar war, on African soil.
Russia to the rescue
Following on the French being frogmarched out of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, it is by now a well established historical fact that the Russian Federation (at first in the form of the Wagner group, and later the Africa Corp) stepped in to fill the void left by the French. Deepened Russian military presence, and political influence in the resource rich Sahel region is not, and cannot be seen in isolation from the much wider global multipolar war.
The above assertion is borne out by two other military/security dynamics. On 25 July, 2025, insurgents in northern Mali engaged government forces in a deadly attack, that led to days of intense fighting close to the border with Algeria. At the time the BBC reported that, “Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said last week that the rebels had been given the “necessary information” to conduct the attacks.” [5]
In response Mali severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine, while not very many people outside of the Sahel, or in the rest of Africa for that matter, seemed to care that Ukraine (a cutout proxy for NATO), is suddenly while in the thick of its war with Russia, poking its nose into the geopolitics of North African deserts.
The 2025 incident where Ukrainian operatives claimed involvement, as well as the more recent attack on the Malian state (April 2026) both seem to bear a Ukrainian fingerprint. More significantly, and somewhat further afield in Libya, on 3 April, 2026, the Kyiv Post ran the headline – ‘Ukrainian Military Presence Reported in Western Libya Amid Expanding ‘Shadow War’ With Russia: Reports suggest over 200 Ukrainian military personnel are operating in western Libya, pointing to a widening covert confrontation between Kyiv and Moscow beyond Ukraine.’ It is alleged that the Ukrainian military personnel may have been involved in a March 4 attack on a so-called Russian ‘shadow fleet’ vessel in the Mediterranean Sea. [6]
If, as Alexander Dugin argues the Ukraine war is the world’s first multipolar war, then it can be argued that if indeed Ukrainian (of course supported, funded, and advised by NATO & MI6 handlers) fingerprints are now found over African insurgencies, aimed at fighting Russian deployments (the African Corps), and government forces supported by the Russian Federation, that yes, these are identifiable African frontlines of the global multipolar war!
African frontlines in the war for multipolarity
Clearly Russian presence, influence, and increased political clout in the African environment has by now attracted more than just raised eyebrows from erstwhile colonisers (Europeans) and their proxy forces (Ukraine).
Ukrainian involvement in the 2025 insurgent attacks on Malian government forces and Russian military assets as outlined above, together with the acknowledged deployment of Ukrainian military personnel to Libya (to fight Russia on ‘other’ fronts in a growing shadow war) illustrate the extent to which North Africa is facing the harsh reality of how NATO (via its proxy Ukraine) is exporting its war on Russia to the African continent.
Another fact that should also not be ignored is that France is not taking its un-ceremonial eviction from its former colonies lightly, and that it is actively involved in actions aimed at destabilising the governments that signed its exit papers (Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Chad, and Central African Republic).
While the world is watching a grand energy war erupt, with everyone still holding breath wondering when the missiles will fly between Iran, Israel and the USA (again), a conflict of truly geopolitical proportions is unfolding on African soil. This is why it can be argued that Mali and Libya have now graduated beyond regional conflicts, to being battlefronts in the global multipolar war – led by the Russian Federation.
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[1] Alexander Dugin. 2023. Alexander Dugin: Ukraine is first multipolar conflict. KATEHON, 9/01/2023. https://katehon.com/en/article/alexander-dugin-ukraine-first-multipolar-conflict?ysclid=mosqg4teeh487042633
[2] AlJazeera. 2026. Gunmen stage simultaneous attacks across Mali, army says. 25/04/2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/25/mali-army-says-armed-groups-launch-nationwide-attacks-gunfire-near-airport
[3] UNHCR. 2012. Tuareg rebels make troubled return from Libya to Mali. 1/3/2012. https://data.unhcr.org/en/news/10868
[4] DIA. 2025. Challenging alliances: a critical analysis of France’s exit from Francophone Africa. https://democracyinafrica.org/changing-alliances-a-critical-analysis-of-frances-exit-from-francophone-africa/
[5] BBC. 2024. Mali cuts diplomatic ties with Ukraine over Wagner ambush claim. 5/8/2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqdd7vdwg7o
[6] Kyiv Post. 2026. Ukrainian Military Presence Reported in Western Libya Amid Expanding ‘Shadow War’ With Russia. 3/4/2026. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/73189