Has Russia's war in Ukraine spread to Africa? | DW News
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Published 2024-08-10
This after Bamako broke off diplomatic relations with Ukraine on Sunday. It was in the wake of a rebel attack in the north of the country that left dozens of Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner mercenaries dead. Analysts say the attack is one of the group's most deadly defeats in Africa. Niger has since followed suit and also capped diplomatic ties with Kyiv.
In Moscow, in the shadow of the Kremlin, dozens of Russians came to mourn the fallen Wagner fighters. The group says its mercenaries and Malian soldiers took heavy losses in clashes with Tuaregs and Islamist fighters from an al-Qaeda affiliate. The Tuaregs said they had killed 84 Russian Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers during fierce battles in late July.
In Nigeria, at least ninety people are behind bars after images emerged of people waving Russian flags at protests against economic hardship in Kano State. Soon after, Russian flags were seen at rallies in the capital Abuja, as DW's Christine Mhundwa reports from Lagos.
Together with Burkina Faso, the military leaders of Niger and Mali, broke away from the regional grouping ECOWAS earlier this year - forming a club of their own which leans towards Moscow: the Alliance of Sahel States. All three countries ditched longstanding western allies after a number of coups:
Mali saw two recent military takeovers -- in August 2020 and May 2021. Russian influence was evident even before the coups.
Burkina Faso suffered two coups in 2022, the first in January and the second in September.
Then in July 2023, Niger's democratically elected president was deposed in a coup and the country also turned to Russia for its security needs.
00:00 Russia's influence in Africa
04:48 DW speaks with Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel and global power competition in Africa
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#Africa #Sahel #Russia
All Comments (21)
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Russian colonialism, but this time without communism
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I like the analyst. She speaks well and she is well informed about the current situation in Africa as well as in Nigeria, my country
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The analyst is very grounded in this topic, kudos to her 😊
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Do they really believe Ukraine has the resources to do this?
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Something tells me that all those population growth projections for Africa will be horribly changed.
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Don't go foreign continent like that
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Oh poor babies! They can spread terror but when they are attacked it's all crying and moaning and throwing tantrums!
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😂😂RUSSIA CAN'T EVEN BRING THERE REGION TO PEACE
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Russia is like Mali, but with nukes.
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Wagner IS Russia!
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What the heck Africa 😅
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So now we know where Russia's cheap cannon fodder will be coming from.
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she is amazing!
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CORRUPTION AND POVERTY WITH SO MUCH OIL GOLD AND DIAMONDS.
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Very impressed with this lady's journalism ,,,, American journalist Should be ashamed!
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Interesting interview. Background noise with interviewee is very distracting though…
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Nigeria 🇳🇬 is fourth in the list
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FUTURE NIGERIAN PRESIDENTS SHOULD NOT BE OLDER THAN 50 TO 55. YEARS OF AGE. THAT SHOULD BE PART OF OUR POTENTIAL NEW CONSTITUTION
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Beverly Ochieng is amazingly informative. But it sounds like either a kid's kindergarden or a family reunion in her background.
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Ukraine in Mali... Come on... Ridiculous lol
