Russia withdraws 100 paramilitary officers from Burkina Faso to help in the war in Ukraine.
They are among about 300 soldiers from the Bear Brigade, a Russian private military company, who arrived in the West African country in May to support the country’s military junta.
On its Telegram channel, the group said its troops would return home to support Russian defense against the recent Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region.
There are fears that the withdrawal will embolden Islamist insurgents in Burkina Faso, who recently killed some 300 people in one of the largest attacks in years.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been hit by regular jihadist attacks, displacing more than two million people in what aid agencies call the world’s “most neglected” crisis.
The junta under interim President Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power in a coup in September 2022, promised to end the attacks but has struggled to do so, even after seeking new security partnerships with Russia.
With nearly half the country outside government control, jihadist groups are increasingly targeting civilians and military units.
Around 300 people were killed in the northern town of Barsalogho on Saturday in an attack claimed by an al-Qaeda-linked armed group, Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), according to survivors.
It was reported that both civilians and military personnel helped dig trenches to protect the city from jihadist attacks.
Authorities have not disclosed how many people were killed, but Communications Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo called the attack “barbaric”.
The Bear Brigade would be responsible for guarding high-ranking Burkinabé officials, including Captain Traoré, whose leadership has previously been threatened.
They arrived the same month that shots were fired in the Burkinabe capital near the presidential palace, fueling speculation of growing opposition to the junta leader, who claimed to have foiled a coup attempt last year.
Videos circulated on social media that were said to have been confirmed by the group, showing the Burkinabe military leader being guarded by men in uniforms with Russian flags.
The group says they are guarding the Russian ambassador in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
About 100 members of this specialized unit will leave the West African country just three months after arriving.
Their sudden departure is related to the recent Ukrainian offensive in the Russian region of Kursk.
“When the enemy arrives on our Russian territory, all Russian soldiers forget about their internal problems and unite against a common enemy,” Bear Brigade commander Viktor Yermolaev told the French newspaper Le Monde (in French).
On Tuesday, the group posted on its Telegram channel that the unit was returning to its base in Russian-occupied Crimea “in connection with recent events.”
It is not clear how the Burkina Faso junta plans to compensate for the loss of military support following the partial withdrawal of the Bear Brigade.
Burkina Faso, like neighbouring Mali and Niger, is struggling with several Islamist groups active in the semi-arid Sahel region, south of the Sahara.
The military has seized power in all three countries and formed the Sahel Alliance.
They have severed ties with former colonial power France and instead befriended Russia, buying weapons and sending fighters to the Wagner mercenary group, now known as the Afrika Korps.
However, armed groups have stepped up their attacks, particularly in Burkina Faso, despite massive recruitment by the paramilitary Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland, a self-defence militia.
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