The partnership between Russia’s space agency and the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger deepens these countries’ turn toward the Kremlin in their effort to fight off Islamist insurgencies.
Russia will deploy telecommunications and remote-sensing satellites over three West African countries led by military juntas that had already cut ties with American and European allies and turned toward the Kremlin for military support to contain Islamist insurgents.
Officials from the three countries — Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso — and Russia’s space agency announced that they had signed a partnership in Mali’s capital on Monday in a bid to strengthen security, manage natural disasters and improve internet access.
The partnership says that Russia’s space agency would help the three countries create a telecommunications system across their vast territories. It would also deploy satellites designed to monitor the countries’ border areas, where Islamist insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State move freely and regularly attack military troops and civilians.
The government officials provided little details about the arrangement — for instance, how much, if anything, it would cost the West African governments.
The partnership is the latest sign of Russia’s expanding influence in a region where military-led governments have turned their backs on the United States and European countries after a decade of military cooperation against extremist groups.
Russia has provided military instructors and helicopters, weapons and mercenaries from the Wagner group to the embattled troops, but so far they have failed to reclaim control of large swathes of their territories from Islamist insurgents.
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