russia - The African Mirror

Nov

2023

Mali signs agreement with Russia to build gold refinery

MALI'S military government said it has signed an agreement with Russia to build a gold refinery in the capital Bamako, one of a slew of deals between the two countries as Russia seeks to extend its regional influence. The accord, a non-binding memorandum of understanding, involves building a 200-tonnes-per-year refinery, minister Alousséni Sanou said in an interview on state television broadcast late on Tuesday. The memorandum is valid for four years, he said, without giving a timeline for construction. If built, it would be the West African country's largest gold refinery. "This will allow us not only to control all…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Russia says first free grain shipments to Africa are on their way

NEWS

RUSSIA'S agriculture minister said that Moscow had begun free shipments of grain totalling up to 200,000 tonnes to six African countries, as promised by President Vladimir Putin in July. In a statement posted on Telegram, Dmitry Patrushev said that ships headed for Burkina Faso and Somalia had already left Russian ports and that additional shipments to Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Mali and the Central African Republic would soon follow. Putin had promised to deliver free grain to the six countries at a summit with African leaders in July, soon after Moscow withdrew from a deal that had allowed Ukraine to ship grain…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Russia opens terrorist investigation after freight train derailed

WORLD

RUSSIAN investigators have opened a terrorism investigation after a major freight train was derailed due to what they said was a homemade bomb on the railway line in the Ryazan region, the investigative committee said. "According to the investigation, at 07:12 on November 11, 2023, an improvised explosive device exploded," the committee said. "As a result, 19 wagons of the freight train were derailed."

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Burkina Faso and Russia’s Rosatom sign agreement for nuclear power plant

NEWS

BURKINA Faso and Russian state nuclear company Rosatom signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the landlocked Sahel West African state, Burkina Faso's energy ministry said in a statement. The nuclear power plant will enable the country to meet its energy needs, adding that the agreement was signed by energy and mines minister Simon-Pierre Boussim, and Nikolay Spasskiy, Rosatom's deputy director general. The deal follows a request made by Burkina Faso junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg in July. Traore, who seized power…

Oct

2023

By JONATHAN LANDAY

US must be ready for simultaneous wars with China, Russia, report says

WORLD

THE United States must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China by expanding its conventional forces, strengthening alliances and enhancing its nuclear weapons modernization program, a congressionally appointed bipartisan panel said. The report from the Strategic Posture Commission comes amid tensions with China over Taiwan and other issues and worsening frictions with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. A senior official involved in the report declined to say if the panel's intelligence briefings showed any Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons cooperation. "We worry ... there may be ultimate coordination between them in some way, which gets us to this two-war…

Oct

2023

By DAVE SHERWOOD

Special Report: How Cubans were recruited to fight for Russia

WORLD

CUBAN seamstress Yamidely Cervantes has bought a new sewing machine for the first time in years, plus a refrigerator and a cellphone - all on Russia's dime. She said her 49-year-old husband Enrique Gonzalez, a struggling bricklayer, left their home in the small town of La Federal on July 19 to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine. Days later, he wired her part of his signing-on bonus of about 200,000 roubles ($2,040) which she received in Cuban pesos, Cervantes told Reuters. That represents a windfall on the economically stricken communist-run island. It's more than 100 times the average monthly…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia wants to join the BRICS group of nations: an expert unpacks the pros and cons

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

A few years ago, the BRICS grouping – Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa – had lost salience because three of its members were in severe economic difficulty. Brazil, Russia and South Africa are primarily natural resource exporters and were badly affected by the global commodity price bust of 2014. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has now given BRICS a new geopolitical salience as the members and their respective allies respond to events. PADRAIG CARMODY, Professor in Geography, Trinity College Dublin In the emerging world order, there is also now increased demand to join BRICS, in part as a countervailing…

Jul

2023

By GUY FAULCONBRIDGE and FILIPP LEBEDEV

Exclusive: Russia is rotting in absurdity and repression, veteran rights campaigner says

WORLD

RUSSIA is decaying in a potent brew of absurdity and repression that is comparable to the Leonid Brezhnev era of the Soviet Union, Oleg Orlov, one of Russia's most respected human rights campaigners, told Reuters. Orlov, 70, is on trial in Russia for articles he published last year which cast Russia as a "fascist" state seeking revenge for the perceived humiliations of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. He faces up to three years in prison. One of the leaders of the Memorial rights group, which won a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 a year after…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

Russian, Turkish ministers talk after Turkey sends Ukrainian commanders home

WORLD

THE foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey spoke by telephone, a day after Ankara angered Moscow by sending five Ukrainian commanders home with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in what Russia called a violation of a prisoner exchange agreement. The Russian and Turkish foreign ministries said Sergei Lavrov and Hakan Fidan discussed the situation in Ukraine, as well as a Black Sea grain export agreement that lifted a Russian de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports last year. Moscow has threatened to quit the grain export deal when it comes up for renewal on July 17, saying demands to facilitate sales of its…

Jul

2023

By ANDRIUS SYTAS

NATO flexes muscle to protect Vilnius summit near Russia, Belarus

WORLD

NATO has turned Vilnius into a fortress defended by advanced weaponry to protect U.S. President Joe Biden and other alliance leaders meeting next week only 32 km (20 miles) from Lithuania's razor-wire topped border fence with Russian ally Belarus. Sixteen NATO allies have sent a total of about 1,000 troops to safeguard the July 11-12 summit, which will take place only 151 km (94 miles) from Russia itself. Many are also providing advanced air defence systems which the Baltic states lack. "It would be more than irresponsible to have our sky unprotected as Biden and leaders of 40 countries are…