A Russian private military company with links to Russia's Defense Ministry is withdrawing from Burkina Faso due to Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Aug. 29.

A Russian private military company with links to Russia’s Defense Ministry is withdrawing from Burkina Faso due to Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Oblast, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Aug. 29.

According to Le Monde, the 100-strong unit known as the Bears Brigade arrived in the West African nation of Burkina Faso in May to support the junta of Captain Ibrahim Traore, who came to power in a coup in September 2022.

Traore visited Russia in July 2023 for a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and attended Russian Navy Day celebrations.

Around 300 Russian troops are estimated to be deployed in Burkina Faso, Le Monde said.

Le Monde contacted the commander of the Bears Brigade, Viktor Yermolaev, via Telegram, on Aug. 22, after Ukraine launched its incursion into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 10.

“When the enemy arrives on our Russian territory, all Russian soldiers forget about internal problems and unite against a common enemy,” Yermolaev told Le Monde.

  • InvertedParallax@lemm.eeEnglish
    56·
    19 days ago

    Keep it up till they pull out of Ukraine.

    Hell, let’s see if we can get them out of Russia at this rate, make the whole country a better place.

    The first country the Nazis invaded was Germany.

  • Stamau123@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    351·
    19 days ago

    Who could have forseen this? Russia Is so reliable with their military partners, just ask Armenia

    • wewbullEnglish
      141·
      19 days ago

      Not such good news for Ukraine though. They’ll be fighting trained experienced troops rather than barely-out-of-boot-camp conscripts they are currently facing.

      • Billiam@lemmy.worldEnglish
        182·
        19 days ago

        I don’t think a 100-man “brigade” is going to make too much difference, trained or not.

        • jaybone@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          19 days ago

          I thought they sent 300 to Burkina Faso. Either way that seems incredibly small against what they are likely facing from Ukraine.

          • Billiam@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            19 days ago

            The article isn’t really clear. It says a 100-man “brigade” who are a PMC and aren’t Russian military went to BF last year, but that there are 300 Russian troops there now.

      • ours@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        19 days ago

        True but this isn’t static frontline combat over there. It’s maneuver warfare that requires mobility, intel and combined arms.

        If their trucks get Himarsed on the road in, the skill of the soldiers matters little.

  • CaliforniaSober@lemmy.caEnglish
    3·
    17 days ago

    Not sure what I love the most out of this.

    Russia retracting from abroad…

    …or the thought that all they can only peel off a couple hundred troops. Same amount that gets slaughtered per “wave” given their tactics.