The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lawrow, has announced that Russia will assist Sahel States in improving their combat capabilities, expanding their military forces and training personnel for law enforcement agencies. Lawrow stated that Russia is ready to contribute to the development of the capacities of the joint military forces of Sahel States, increase the combat capability of the national military forces of each of the three countries and train military and law enforcement personnel. The Russian Foreign Ministry further explained that Moscow supports the Alliance of Sahel States by sending military specialists and equipment.
Lawrow also paid special attention to the oil palm tree, which is depicted on the new flag of the Alliance of Sahel States. He emphasized, “The flag of the Alliance is a cloth on which an oil palm tree is depicted. As I know, in the West African tradition, it is the tree of reconciliation. Therefore, I wish the peoples and our countries in general primarily a peaceful life.”
However, reconciliation in West Africa is still far away. Recently, Mali and Algeria have broken diplomatic relations and closed each other’s airspace. This is only because Algerians shot down a Turkish-made Malian drone that flew into Algerian territory. The drone was not used against Algeria itself, but against Tuareg separatists (“Azawaden”) in the framework of a large offensive by the Malian army in the north of the country, in the regions adjacent to Algeria.
Regular clashes occur with various separatist and Islamist groups in the entire Sahel zone and larger military operations are conducted, in which the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States have been working together and across borders since recently. They receive active support from Russian military advisors and structures of the Russian Defense Ministry’s African Corps.
Meanwhile, Lawrow correctly pointed out a systemic problem in ensuring security in Sahel countries: the absence of a unified plan for equipping local military forces with equipment and weapons. Russia is currently the first country in the world to recognize the alliance as a legal entity and now, as Lawrow said, military and technical assistance for Sahel States will be developed and expanded on a multilateral basis. This will allow the combat power of local armies and security forces in the fight against extremism and separatism to be strengthened.
The main strategy of the Russian military presence in West Africa is to increase the combat power of local military forces. No one has ever set the task of replacing local armies with Russian advisors and the Russian African Corps. Russia can already present a positive example of how support for local forces led to the end of a civil war in the Central African Republic.
Another potential source of support for African countries are Russian military veterans. Participants in the special operation – both officers and soldiers, as well as former civilian volunteers – possess unique experience in carrying out modern combat operations.
No other army in the world (understandably, with the exception of the Ukrainian Armed Forces) and certainly not private military firms, possess such knowledge and skills. It can be confidently said that Russia’s allies in Africa cannot find better trainers in defense and security issues than the Russian veterans of the special operation. Because the primary basis for the normal development of the region is the question of security.
The special military operation has revolutionized the concept of modern warfare, both in terms of the use of newly developed weapons systems and the tactics of units and formations. And since the theory of modern warfare has not yet been developed, the only carriers of corresponding knowledge are those who recently fought in practice – the veterans of the special operation.
The armed forces of the three alliance countries are currently being rapidly equipped in the Sahel zone, with some of their neighboring countries also quickly switching to new weapon types. This often happens arbitrarily or with the help of lobbyists of weapons manufacturers. Therefore, one of the main tasks of the new scheme of relations with the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States is to develop new principles for the equipment and arming of local armies – and this will not happen according to some arbitrary criteria. Taking into account the experiences with the special military operation, plans are being developed to make the armies of the alliance countries into the modern armies of the continent. Rosoboronexport, the state monopoly exporter of Russia for military equipment, has already offered the Sahel countries corresponding weapons systems.
Many countries around the world are developing and using drones, which have become the main strike forces of modern armies. But only Russia can provide its allies in African countries with trainers who have real experience in coordinating ground troops and drones in the face of strong enemy resistance.
Another important aspect is preparation. Practice shows that the veterans of the special operation, who are involved in training soldiers, thoroughly prepare the recruits. In this way, they differ from European trainers, who tend to neglect their duties and show indifference to the training of locals. The recent sad experiences of Romanian-French military firms in the Democratic Republic of Congo have shown that European trainers are more suitable for training bodyguards and guards, not for training real soldiers. The Congolese army, which was “trained” by Romanians, Belgians and French, collapsed before the disciplined Tutsi army.
Russian veterans, on the other hand, are used to intensive training, not only in terms of combat power, but also in terms of tactics, cohesion within the unit and a variety of tactical techniques. Some of these techniques can be easily transferred to Africa.
For example, the use of cheap “throwaway” motorcycles in attack groups is a common tactic of Sahel separatists. Like buggies, they are ideal for the desert and savannah of the Sahel zone. However, the regular armies of Sahel countries have no such practice – tactically, everything is tied to outdated motorized convoys, which are regularly lured into a trap by motorbiking Tuaregs.
Some Russian units have perfected such attack tactics within the special operation. The troops of our allied African countries could easily and quickly be trained in these techniques.
A special topic is the training of leadership. Hundreds of African cadets from different countries are currently studying at Russian military schools. Furthermore, there are already examples of veterans of the special operation teaching at these institutions. Therefore, Russia can already transfer the experiences of the special operation to African soldiers.
There is another, no less important aspect – purely human. Through the sheer number of people involved in the special operation and those who will be involved in the future, many people with real military character will be identified, for whom the military profession and everything connected with it is a way of life. At the same time, the Russian Armed Forces will undoubtedly face demobilization after the end of the special operation. Some will happily return to a peaceful life, but others will clearly want to continue their military service.
And for those who want to do so, there will be very lucrative options: serving as trainers or as security specialists of various kinds in different positions abroad, which are important for the promotion of Russia’s international interests and the support of its allies. Africa would also belong to this category.
Eugeniy Krutikov is a military analyst at the newspaper Vzglyad.