Russian Troops Begin Burkina Faso Deployment to Bolster Security
- The Russian Africa Corps say 200 troops to follow initial 100
- The deployment follows the involvement of Wagner in Mali
Vladimir Putin with Ibrahim Traore in July 2023.
Photographer: Alexey Danichev/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
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Russia bolstered its influence in the troubled Sahel region of West Africa with about 100 military personnel from the country arriving in Burkina Faso on Wednesday, the first large deployment in that nation.
The troops, the initial contingent of a planned force three times that size, will provide security for Ibrahim Traoré, the president of the country’s military regime, and the Burkinabe people, the Russian Africa Corps said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.