Keypoints:
- Moscow alleges French-backed plots across the Sahel
- SVR claims links to a failed Burkina Faso coup
- Russia says drones and foreign instructors are involved
RUSSIA’S Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has launched an extraordinary public broadside against Paris, accusing President Emmanuel Macron of authorising covert operations aimed at removing three military leaders in the central Sahel – Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré, Mali’s Assimi Goïta and Niger’s Abdourahamane Tiani.
In a detailed statement carried by Russian news agency TASS and Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Moscow claims France is desperately trying to recover lost influence in its former African sphere after a wave of anti-French, sovereignty-first governments swept the region since 2020. The SVR says this has pushed Paris from diplomacy into destabilisation.
A bid for lost influence
The Russian agency argues that Macron’s administration is ‘frantically’ seeking a political comeback in West Africa after a string of humiliations that forced French troops to withdraw from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. According to the SVR, the rise of ‘patriotic forces’ in these states – leaders who reject French tutelage and neoliberal conditionality – has triggered what it calls a covert campaign of regime change.
Moscow alleges Macron has green-lit intelligence operations designed to neutralise ‘undesirable leaders’, comparing the supposed French plan to Washington’s earlier attempt to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. No independent evidence has been presented, but the accusations fit within a wider geopolitical struggle for influence in the Sahel.
Burkina Faso and the failed plot
At the centre of the SVR’s case is a claimed link between Paris and a thwarted coup attempt in Burkina Faso on January 3. Russian officials say the plot included plans to assassinate President Ibrahim Traoré, whom they describe as a symbol of resistance to ‘neocolonial control’.
The SVR alleges that French operatives expected a pro-Paris administration to replace Traoré in Ouagadougou, weakening pan-Africanist currents across the region. Burkina Faso’s authorities have not publicly confirmed foreign involvement, but they have repeatedly warned of external destabilisation efforts.
From Ouagadougou to Bamako
After what Moscow calls a ‘setback’ in Burkina Faso, the SVR says France shifted its focus to the broader Sahel-Sahara belt. Mali is presented as the main target.
Russia claims recent attacks on fuel convoys, blockades of key towns and assaults on civilians are part of a coordinated strategy to create conditions for the removal of President Assimi Goïta. The statement goes further, alleging that local armed groups are being supplied with drones and instructors connected to Ukraine – a charge that mirrors Moscow’s wider narrative about Kyiv’s global activities but remains unverified.
Niger, CAR and Madagascar in the frame
Niger’s junta leader Abdourahamane Tiani is named alongside Traoré and Goïta as part of what Moscow portrays as a three-man axis resisting French influence. The SVR says Paris views these leaders as obstacles to restoring its political footprint.
The agency also accuses France of plotting against the Central African Republic, where Russian security contractors already have a strong presence. Details are sparse, but the allegation underscores a rivalry between Paris and Moscow in Bangui.
Further afield, Madagascar is cited as another theatre of contention. The SVR says that after new authorities took power in October 2025 and signalled interest in deeper ties with BRICS, France began searching for ways to unseat President Michael Randrianirina and reinstall a ‘loyal’ government.
A harsh verdict on Macron
The SVR concludes that Macron’s Africa policy is politically bankrupt, accusing France of relying on ‘terrorist proxies’ to maintain leverage on the continent. Moscow argues this only deepens perceptions of France as a ‘parasitic metropolis’ that exploits rather than partners with its former colonies.
Paris has not yet issued a formal rebuttal. Analysts note that while the claims remain unproven, they reflect an intensifying information war over Africa’s future alignment between Western capitals, Moscow and emerging powers in the Global South.
