Niger’s military government in January agreed to step up military cooperation with Russia, after expelling French forces that were aiding in the fight against Jihadist rebellions in the Sahel region.
Video aired on Wednesday night on Niger’s state RTN broadcaster of a Russian military cargo plane arriving at Niamey airport and unloading gear.
The report by the state broadcaster said "the latest military equipment and military instructors from the Russian defense ministry" had arrived.
Russia will help "install an air defense system ... to ensure complete control of our airspace," the RTN report said.
An instructor who was interviewed by RTN said they are in Niger to train military personnel in the West African nation “using the military equipment that has arrived here,” adding, “it’s equipment for different military specialties, for promoting military specialties.”
“We are here to develop military cooperation between Russia and Niger,” the instructor said.
The head of Niger's military government, General Abdourahamane Tiani, spoke via telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 26. The two leaders discussed security cooperation as well as "global strategic cooperation" against "current threats," authorities said at the time, without elaborating.
Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, had been a frontline partner of the West in battling jihadists in the Sahel but has turned to Russia since the ousting of democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum last year.
The West African nation joined neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso — also ruled by military leaders after coups — in creating a joint force to battle long-running jihadist insurgencies.
Niger also joined its neighboring partners in exiting their regional ECOWAS bloc.
High-level Russian defense officials including Yunus-bek Yevkurov, Russia's deputy defense minister, have also visited the country and met with its junta leader in recent months.
In March, Niger's junta spokesperson Col. Amadou Abdramane said the nation's governing junta had terminated a military agreement with the United States "with immediate effect." This happened a week after Washington had sent a delegation to Niamey for diplomatic talks with the junta.
Despite Abdramane's announcement, the United States still has at least 1,000 troops in the West African nation, though their movements have been limited since the coup. Washington has also curbed assistance to the nation’s military government.
Some information for this article was sourced from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.