Russia skirts Western sanctions to ramp up its military footprint in Africa

Even as it pounds Ukraine, Russia is expanding its military footprint in Africa, delivering sophisticated weaponry to sub-Saharan conflict zones where a Kremlin-controlled armed force is on the rise.Skirting sanctions imposed by Western nations, Moscow is using cargo ships to send tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and other high-value equipment to West Africa, The Associated Press has found.Relying on satellite imagery and radio signals, AP tracked a convoy of Russian-flagged cargo ships as they made a nearly one-month journey from the Baltic Sea. The ships carried howitzers, radio jamming equipment and other military hardware, according to military officials in Europe who closely monitored them.

The deliveries could strengthen Russia's fledgling Africa Corps as Moscow competes with the United States, Europe and China for greater influence across the continent.The two-year-old Africa Corps, which has links to a covert branch of Russia's army, is ascendant at a time when US and European troops have been withdrawing from the region, forced out by sub-Saharan nations turning to Russia for security.Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been battling fighters linked with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group for more than a decade.

At first, mercenary groups with an arms-length relationship to the Kremlin entered the fray in Africa. But increasingly, Russia is deploying its military might, and intelligence services, more directly."We intend to expand our cooperation with African countries in all spheres, with an emphasis on economic cooperation and investments," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "This cooperation includes sensitive areas linked to defense and security." From the ports, Russian weapons are trucked to Mali Russia's 8,800-tonne Baltic Leader and 5,800-tonne Patria are among hundreds of ships that Western nations have sanctioned to choke off resources for Russia's war in Ukraine. The ships docked and unloaded in Conakry, Guinea, in late May, AP satellite images showed.Other ships made deliveries to the same port in January. They delivered tanks, armoured vehicles and other hardware that was then trucked overland to neighbouring Mali, according to European military officials and a Malian blogger's video of the long convoy.The military officials spoke to AP about Russian operations on condition of anonymity. The AP verified the blogger's video, geolocating it to the RN5 highway leading into Bamako, the Malian capital.After the latest delivery in Conakry, trucks carrying Russian-made armoured vehicles, howitzers and other equipment were again spotted on the overland route to Mali.Malian broadcaster ORTM confirmed that the West African nation's army took delivery of new military equipment.