Niger announced on Tuesday that it was severing diplomatic ties with Ukraine “with immediate effect”, two days after a similar move by Mali, which accused Kiev of “supporting” “terrorist groups” after the Malian army suffered heavy losses in fighting with separatists and jihadists at the end of July.

Niger, which like Mali is ruled by a military junta, also announced it was “referring the Ukrainian aggression to the UN Security Council for consideration”, according to a televised statement by government spokesman Amadou Abdel Rahman.

In early August, a group linked to Al-Qaeda in Niger released a video showing two men it said were “Russian hostages” who said they had been kidnapped in Mbanga in southwestern Niger, according to AFP.