Some of these countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal, São Tomé e Príncipe and Togo.

“The Russian flag has become a symbol of resistance in West Africa, affiliated with anti-West and anti-French attitudes,” said Kyle Walter, the head of research at Logically, a technology ...

In contrast, other countries in West Africa, like Niger’s neighbors, Burkina Faso and Mali have turned to Russia and its private military group Wagner for support in fighting extremists groups.