Among the sea of flags flying high in a burst of patriotic fervor in Burkina Faso, Mali and lately Niger, countries that have recently undergone military coups, the red, white and blue flag of the Russian Federation has become commonplace.
The Russian flag has become a symbol of resistance in West Africa, affiliated with anti-West and anti-French attitudes, said Kyle Walter, the head of research at Logically, a technology company that tracked an increase of pro-Russian and anti-French narratives related to Niger in the wake of a coup there this summer.
How so many Russian flags have ended up so easily in West African capitals has been a matter of speculation among analysts and some Western diplomats who track the flags' origin, convinced that the Russian government has financed their distribution to spread its influence.
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