Local rebels in northern Mali have reportedly shot down a Russian Shahed-136 (“Harpy-A1”) strike drone for the first time, marking the first confirmed use of the drone type in the Sahel region. Ukraine’s envoy on sanctions policy, Vladislav Vlasyuk, told Kyiv Post that the incident took place on Monday, May 18.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. According to Vlasyuk, the downed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was a new modification from the “KK” series equipped with an aerial detonation warhead system. Military outlet Defence Blog reported on the incident in Mali on Tuesday, citing social media videos of drone debris reportedly found near the central Malian city of Sevare. Vlasyuk warned that Russia is increasingly exporting its military technologies and methods of warfare to other regions, particularly Africa. “And it does this largely thanks to dual-use components that continue flowing into Russian production without sufficient restrictions,” Vlasyuk said. According to Vlasyuk, investigators found that the drone contained commercially available civilian electronics, including microchips, transistors, diodes, and relays that can be freely purchased on the open market. Among the identified components were parts produced by STMicroelectronics and several Chinese manufacturers, including Mornsun, Wayon Electronics, GigaDevice, Shenzhen Codaca Electronic, and NCR Industrial. Vlasyuk said the same electronic configuration was repeatedly found in drones Russia uses against Ukraine.