After the forced departure of the French troops from Operation Barkhane and their European allies from Mali, in the summer of 2022, and from Burkina Faso, in September of the same year, as a result of two military coups, Niger had become a refuge and main pivot of the device to fight against jihadism in the Sahel. The coup on Wednesday night in Niamey means for the European Union and for the West, the descent into hell of the last ally in the Sahel.

A group of rebel soldiers held the president, Mohamed Bazoum, in the presidential palace and announced the end of his regime on Wednesday night.. “We, the defense and security forces, meeting within the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland, have decided to put an end to the regime” of Bazoum, proclaimed Major Colonel Amadou Abdramane, seated and surrounded by nine other uniformed men without identify. They blamed their uprising on the “continued deterioration of the security situation and poor economic and social governance.”

The chief of the General Staff of the armed forces, General Abdou Sidiku Issa, joined the coup leaders and justified his movement in the desire to “avoid a confrontation” in the country.. The Board has suspended all institutions, has closed the borders and has established a curfew until further order.

Niger is therefore following in the footsteps of Mali, which has suffered several coups and counter-coups between 2020 and 2022, and Burkina Faso, in a spiral of instability and reaction against European stabilization troops that has infected the entire Sahel.. “Behind all these movements in these three countries there are common motivations, forces and regional and local powers that try to distribute the cards in an area where Westerners have shown that they no longer have the capacity to maintain the political and geopolitical order, not to mention military, with the French in Mali in the first place,” explains Frédéric Mertens, a professor at the European University and an expert in International Relations, to EL MUNDO.

In the cases of Mali and Burkina Faso, the departure of the French troops led to the landing of the mercenary troops of the Russian Wagner group.. In their withdrawal from their Malian bases, the French troops settled in neighboring Niger, where more than 1,000 troops were deployed. Anti-French sentiment has been growing in recent months, but the EU had outlined a new mission in Niger this February in which Spain -which maintains a discreet presence in Mali- was going to participate with military observers. Now the question is whether Niger will be next to open the door for Wagner.

“There is one more destabilizing factor, which has played a role in Ukraine, until recently, which is Wagner, and who is 'accidentally' in the region.. The interests go beyond the coup leaders themselves, since everything that can weaken the Westerners is also in the interest of powers that are present on the continent, such as Russia, China and Iran,” outlines the expert.. Although Russia has formally condemned the coup and has called on the “parties to the conflict” not to use force against civilians and to work for “the restoration of peace”. Sergei Lavrov himself, Russian Foreign Minister, spoke, according to Efe, in these terms: “In Niger it is necessary to restore constitutional order.”

But what raises suspicions is that the leader of the Wagner group, Yevgueni Prigozhin, could also be seen meeting at the summit that Russia was holding with the African countries this Thursday in Saint Petersburg with representatives of the Nigerien delegation, according to the Spanish agency, citing the newspaper digital Fontanka.ru. The content of the conversations was not known. Wagner's mercenaries maintain a presence, in addition to the aforementioned Mali and Burkina Faso, in the Central African Republic, Sudan and Libya.

The events in Niger, estimates Mertens, “could have a contaminating effect on other countries. It can and will aggravate the situation in Burkina Faso and Mali. And, in general, the situation is going to worsen for this continent, as this may have an impact on economic exchanges and the security of the movement of goods and people.”

In addition, the risk of greater instability in the Sahel, an area considered by the European Union -and Spain itself- “southern border”, soars after the coup in Niger, the last ally of Europeans and Americans in the region. With the fall of President Bazoum, Professor Mertens considers “the cancer of the Islamist extremist terrorism of Al Qaeda and all its nebulae becomes a structural factor and not a conjunctural one”.

The Sahel is the scene of several overlapping crises: the consolidation of powerful terrorist groups that take advantage of the inability of fragile states, illicit trafficking, the food crisis caused by drought and the effects of climate change, the rise of Russia's influence with the irruption of Wagner, who has replaced the French and European stabilization troops…

Until now, Niger was an important base for international operations against jihadist extremism that has been expanding in this area over the last decade.. In addition to sheltering Barkhane's thousand French soldiers, the north of the country hosts a US drone base as part of the effort to combat armed groups in the vast Sahel. The fate of this base is now in question.

The Sahelian part of West Africa is, according to experts, the region in the world hardest hit by terrorism today. According to data from the UN Security Council this week, in the first six months of 2023 there have been 1,800 attacks with 4,600 deaths.. Most occurred in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Saridewi Djamani was sentenced to hang for possession of 1 kilo of a cocktail of opiates crushed into white powder, including 30 grams of heroin.. When the police broke into his home to make the arrest, they found Saridewi treating

Barbie may be the premiere of the year in the world, but at the moment it will not arrive in Russia. For a year and a half, Hollywood companies have left the Russian market, and the bulk of new films have officially disappeared from the country's theaters.. Some theaters have begun to show pirated versions without the permission of the copyright holders, taking advantage of the fact that films in Russian are being released in other countries such as Kazakhstan and Georgia.. According to various media outlets, in the case of Barbie, even the pirated copies have stopped short, to the misfortune of many fans and the delight of some hard-line Putinists.

The deputy of the State Duma (lower house of Parliament) Vitaly Milonov has proclaimed the “toxicity” of Barbie. In his opinion, Russian culture is rich in characters worthy of increased attention.

Barbie has long been among Milonov's obsessions, known for his ultra-conservative crusades. A lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party, he has earned a reputation as a moral hawk for his anti-gay rhetoric. His historic contribution to Russian legislation is the law that prohibits “gay propaganda” in Russia, effectively vetoing any content about this group. During his time as a politician in St. Petersburg, he was famous for organizing raids on nightclubs, although he always played it down: “I can't close a single fag club.”

“Russia is a traditional country and it is a democratic right of society to choose its laws, and we chose a law that does not allow spreading propaganda about non-traditional family lifestyles,” Milonov explained in an interview with EL MUNDO in 2017.. His was the idea to ban Beauty and the Beast because it has a gay character who violated his law against the propaganda of homosexuality.. Ultimately, the children's film received a 16+ rating.

Milonov – who sometimes wears an “Orthodoxy or Death!” T-shirt – thinks Barbie has little to do in Russia.. “She's quite a distinctive American pin-up girl, somewhat silly by Russian tradition, not like the boys and girls who are considered good in our country.”

Milonov wanted to ban Barbie dolls designed with gender inclusion, without male or female features. In 2019 he referred to them as “abnormal dolls”. He also warned that anyone who sold these dolls in Russia should be arrested for acts of depravity towards children.. Those who reported to authorities where the dolls were sold would receive “a plaque,” Milonov suggested, even though none of the dolls were being sold in Russia.

Now, he regrets “that parents think that Barbie is something healthy for their children,” the parliamentarian said in an interview with the Podmoskovye Segodnya publication.

Anton Sirenko, general director of the Content Club company, told the Vedomosti outlet that Barbie will not be released at the Russian box office until the fall, since films with sufficient resolution for screening appear online, as a rule, as the result of a premiere. official digital -that is, legal- to be able to copy the content.

Barbie is in the center of the hurricane, and the Russians are waiting for her.

African leaders on Friday pressured the Russian president to return to the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain that Moscow broke last week.. They also asked him to take into account their joint initiative to make peace with Ukraine.. African leaders attending the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg avoided directly criticizing Moscow, but their interventions on the second day of a summit served as an indication of deep African concern about the consequences of the war in the countries in development, especially with regard to food prices due to the drop in supply.

Until Moscow refused to renew it last week, the Black Sea grain deal had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its seaports despite the war.. Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi urged Russia to return to that commitment.. Egypt is a key buyer of grain exported via the Black Sea route.. Al Sisi noted that it was “essential to reach an agreement” to revive the deal.

Putin responded by pulling from the familiar argument: saying that the increase in world food prices is the result of mistakes in Western policy that go back long before the war.

Since withdrawing from the agreement, Russia has repeatedly bombarded Ukraine's ports and grain warehouses.. Moscow has once again been accused by the West of using food as a weapon of war, and concern has spread in many southern countries because world cereal prices have risen again.

On Thursday, Russia promised to deliver free grain to six of the countries attending the summit.. “It's basically propaganda, to show that you care about their needs and give credibility to their reasons for getting out of the grain deal,” says Ivan U.. Klyszcz, Researcher at the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute, in an interview with EL MUNDO.

This specialist in Russian foreign policy has spread the term “messianic multipolarity” to talk about the message that Moscow is trying to convey to the so-called 'global south': “It is that we live in an unfair world where the West tries to keep the poor poor, and Russia tries to get the rest to unite against this world order”.

Putin received the plan coldly when a group of African presidents presented it to him last month.. Instead, in remarks on Friday, he said Moscow respected the African peace proposal on Ukraine and was studying it carefully..

“New Realities”

An agreement now has little chance. Russia has long said it is open to talks but must reckon with “new realities” on the ground, where it controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine's territory after 17 months of war and has annexed it as its own. four Ukrainian regions as their own.

Although this summit has been devalued in terms of assistance because of the war, African countries have approached St. Petersburg interested in “grain, fertilizer and fuel” from Russia. On the political level, African countries “also seek to attract the attention of the West, because without sharing the very pessimistic Russian vision, they show that they can go with the other party,” recalls Klyszcz..

African Union Chairman Azali Assoumani said Putin's grain offer is not enough, and “a ceasefire is needed in Ukraine”. During the summit, Russia announced that 90% of the pending issues on the African debt had been resolved and blamed the invaded country for not wanting to talk.

Russia wants to pose as Africa's “big friend,” even though its investment is minimal and its trade with the continent has stagnated. But even so, Moscow insists on increasing its projection over that part of the world for various reasons. “A broad and deep relationship helps Russia to show that it is a power, and at the same time Moscow wants to undermine the presence of the West and Ukraine in the world,” said Klyszcz, who collaborates with the International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS). Africa is also useful for “sanctions evasion”, for example providing an outlet for the 'spoils of war' of Evgeni Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries in Africa. “We are basically talking about gold and diamonds, which can be hidden through 'hubs' that have a more favorable legal environment, such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and then use those dollars to buy chips and components in China or any other country.”

Russian forces attacked a key village on Friday that Ukraine claimed to have recaptured in its counter-offensive in the country's southeast, while Moscow accused Kiev of firing a missile at a southern Russian town that authorities said injured 15. people.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated Ukraine's State Day by reaffirming the country's sovereignty.. A response to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who used his claim that Ukraine did not exist as a nation to justify his invasion.

“Now, as more than a thousand years ago, our choice of civilization is unity with the world,” Zelensky said in a speech outside the Saint Michael Monastery in kyiv.. “To be a power in world history. To have the right to a national history, with its people, its land, its state. And with our children, all future generations of the Ukrainian people. We will definitely win!”

He also honored the military and handed out the first passports to young citizens as part of the ceremonies. This holiday coincides with the celebration that marks the beginning of the widespread adoption of Christianity in the land that later became Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.

On Friday the Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down a Ukrainian missile in the city of Tagenrog, about 40 kilometers east of the Ukrainian border, and local authorities reported that 15 people were injured.. Debris fell on the city, the ministry added, claiming the missile was part of a “terrorist attack” from Ukraine.. Rostov regional governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram that another missile was intercepted by air defenses in another part of the region.. He did not provide any details.

For his part, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Danilov blamed Russian air defense systems for the explosion in Taganrog.

Earlier, a Ukrainian drone had been shot down outside Moscow, the Defense Ministry said, in the third drone strike or attempt in the capital region in the past month.. The ministry said there were no injuries or damage in the latest incident, and did not give an exact location where the device fell.

Since the war began, Russia has blamed Ukraine for drone, bomb and missile attacks on its territory far from the front lines of the battlefield.. Ukrainian officials rarely confirm being behind these actions, which have included drone attacks on the Kremlin that unnerved the Russians.. Nor have they commented on this latest incident.

The attacks on Russian soil have affected ammunition and fuel depots, as well as the bridges used by the army to supply its forces and military recruiting stations.. There have also been assassinations of Russian-appointed officials in the occupied Ukrainian territory.

Three months ago, a Russian warplane accidentally dropped a bomb on Belgorod, injuring two people, in an incident in which Ukraine was initially suspected.

Meanwhile, the commander of Ukraine's armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said his troops were advancing into Russian-occupied parts of eastern Ukraine and meeting stiff resistance as the war nears a year and a half.. “The enemy is clinging fiercely to every inch, conducting intense artillery and mortar fire,” it said in a statement.

The recent clashes have taken place in multiple locations along the more than 1,000-kilometer (more than 600-mile) front, where Ukraine deployed its newly acquired Western weapons to drive off Kremlin forces.. However, it is attacking without vital air support and is facing a deeply entrenched enemy.

A Western official said on Thursday that Ukraine had gotten a strong push in the southeast.. Putin acknowledged that the fighting has intensified there, but insisted that the kyiv offensive failed.

Zelensky posted a video late Thursday in which Ukrainian soldiers said they had taken Staromaiorske, in the Donetsk region.. Russian military bloggers said artillery fire against Ukrainian troops had effectively leveled the village and reported further shelling on Friday.. Capturing the village, which in 2014 had a population of 682, would give Ukraine a platform to push deeper into Russian-controlled territory, these bloggers noted.

The area has been a focus of Ukraine's counteroffensive since June, and its troops have previously captured other villages while slowly advancing through extensive Russian minefields.. It has not been possible to verify the claims of either party about what is happening in the war zone.. Syrskyi said fighting targeting the enemy's artillery as well as its command and control structure is a priority as his troops probe Russian lines for weaknesses.

“Under these conditions, it is crucial to make timely management decisions in response to the current situation and take steps to maneuver forces and resources, moving units and troops to areas where success is evident or withdrawing them from enemy fire,” he said. Russia is trying to hold on to territory it controls in the four provinces it illegally annexed in September: Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Kherson and Luhansk.