DAKAR: Mali said Sunday it was breaking diplomatic relations with Ukraine, accusing a senior Ukrainian official of having admitted Kyiv’s role in a heavy defeat Malian troops suffered in July. Members of the Russian mercenary group Wagner were among the casualties in the defeat, which happened in late July in the north of the country and which Mali’s military rulers have blamed on “separatists and jihadists.” Mali will break off relations “with immediate effect,” said government spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Maiga.