Russia has sent an additional batch of military equipment to Madagascar to help re-equip the military engineering corps of this island nation. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.
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The shipment, which included mobile power plants and vehicles, complements previous transfers of armored vehicles, weapons, and ammunition. Russia has moved swiftly to displace France, Madagascar's former colonial power, as the African nation's primary foreign partner after Michael Andrianirina led a coup in October and became president amid protests over water and power outages.
"This transfer of equipment is a new stage in the support that Russia provides to Madagascar," said Alexey Buryak, Chargé d'Affaires of the Russian Embassy in the capital Antananarivo, on Tuesday at the Ivato military base in the presence of Andrianirina, ministers, and military leaders. "This friendly gesture from Russia demonstrates that we are a reliable partner."
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Russia is using military partnerships to deepen its presence in Africa, providing support to unstable states such as the Central African Republic and Mali, and signing defense cooperation agreements with several other countries in an effort to expand its influence on the continent.
Andrianirina, an army colonel, broke tradition by choosing Moscow for his first foreign visit and meeting with President Vladimir Putin instead of traveling to France, as his predecessors had done. He subsequently also met with French President Emmanuel Macron.