A Russian military official has accused the UK’s intelligence service of working with Ukraine to start a “sabotage squad” for operations on African soil.

Russian state media outlet Tass says it has spoken to an unnamed official, who claims MI6 has “formed and prepared for deployment” what is described as a sabotage and assassination squad “in an attempt to prevent cooperation between African countries and Russia”.

The source alleges that at London’s request, Ukraine’s government has found 100 “militants” from nationalist and neo-Nazi groups to take part.

It’s important to take the claims with a heap of salt. Tass has a track record of effectively being a mouthpiece for the Kremlin.

Tass is very vague about the unnamed source, who is described only as a “military-diplomatic source”. More importantly, no concrete evidence has been put forward.

But regardless, the source claimed that “the task of the Ukrainian squad, formed by the British special services, will be to carry out sabotage attacks at infrastructure facilities in Africa and to assassinate African leaders eyeing cooperation with Russia”.

Moscow has accelerated its attempts to get influence on the African continent in recent weeks, holding a summit with African leaders in St Petersburg last month. 

Vladimir Putin promised free grain to six African countries – five of which have voted down UN resolutions to condemn Russia’s invasion.

And Wagner mercenaries have been actively involved in several conflicts in Africa in the past decade, with the Kremlin’s backing.