The column stretched as far as the eye could see. Dozens of trucks carrying light tanks, armored vehicles and military ambulances marched past in the 30-minute video shot in Sébénikoro, on the south-western outskirts of Bamako, on January 17. "It goes all the way to Guinea!" whose border lies a hundred kilometers away, said the man speaking on the video, Boubou Mabel Diawara, a Malian influencer well known for supporting the junta led by General Assimi Goïta.

Although it doesn't actually reach the border, this convoy of Russian equipment delivered to Mali is unprecedented in its scale. Not since the military coup leaders in power in Bamako became allies with Moscow in 2021 had such a delivery of vehicles been made. Mil combat and troop transport helicopters as well as Sukhoi and L-39 fighter jets had already been delivered to the Malian authorities in early 2023, but not so many military vehicles.

This shipment of equipment comes as Russia restructures its presence in Africa. Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, Russia has been in a precarious position in Syria, the country it used as a logistical hub to project its resources to the continent and has been forced to find alternative solutions, notably in Libya.

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