C4ADS Analysis: Russian Air Bridge Ran 75 Flights to Africa Corps Bases in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger Since Jan 2025

The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) published flight-tracking analysis on August 12, 2026 — reported by Defense News on August 13 — documenting at least 75 military or military-linked flights supplying Russia's Africa Corps expeditionary force across the Central Sahel between January 2025 and July 2026. Burkina Faso received the heaviest traffic with 56 flights, followed by Mali (38) and Niger (6); Burkina Faso's volume is assessed as partly reflecting its role as a transit point between Mali and Niger. State-owned aircraft — including the Russian Ministry of Defense's sanctioned Flight Unit 224 (the busiest single operator), the Russian Special Flight Squadron (14 flights), and the Ministry for Emergency Situations (12 flights) — typically refueled at Russia's Khmeimim air base in Syria and Libyan sites including Al-Khadim before continuing to Sahel bases. Private carriers, including the Kyrgyzstan-registered Sapsan Airlines (unsanctioned by the US, EU, or UK despite documented military-logistics links), more often transited commercial hubs in the UAE, Algeria, and Turkey. C4ADS characterized the findings as preliminary, 'intended to identify avenues for further inquiry rather than draw firm conclusions.'