Russian instructors have arrived in Niger, which also received the first delivery of Russian military materials within the framework of new security cooperation between Niamey and Moscow, BTA reported.
"We were present on Wednesday, April 10, at the arrival in Niamey of an Ilyushin - 76 plane, a large Russian military transport plane carrying military material of the latest generation with military instructors from the Russian Ministry of Defense, announced the state TV "Tele Sahel".
Russia will install in Niger an air defense system capable of ensuring full control of Niger's airspace, added the television, showing footage taken at night of a Russian plane arriving at Niamey airport.
The number of Russian military instructors is not reported. They will assist in the quality training of the Nigerian military to use the aforementioned system, the broadcaster said.
"We are here to train Niger's army and help them use the military material that has arrived," says one of the instructors. "We are here to develop military cooperation between Niger and Russia," he added.
On March 26, the leader of the Niger junta, General Abdurrahman Tiani, spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two discussed strengthening cooperation in the field of security.
In mid-March, Niger announced it was ending a military cooperation agreement with the US, questioning the presence of more than 1,000 US troops in the country.
Niger, like Mali and Burkina Faso, has been troubled by jihadist violence for years by groups linked to "Al Qaeda" and "Islamic State". In these three countries, civilian governments have been overthrown by military coups since 2020.
In addition, the three French colonies turned their backs on Paris and drew closer economically and militarily to new partners, including Russia, before forming the Union of Sahelian States with the aim of creating a federation.
In December, a Russian delegation visited Niamey for defense discussions, and the two countries then signed an agreement to strengthen military cooperation.