The Sahel juntas rightly chose new partners free of colonial conditions

The position holds that the military governments of the Sahel were right to expel the former colonial powers and to choose new partners on their own sovereign terms. Its advocates present the armies' operations against militants, in which fighters are killed, captured or neutralised, attacks are repelled and captives are freed, as a counterterror necessity.

The position is voiced by 25 Russian outlets in the dispute over the military transition in the Sahel. Russia's Africa Corps is one of the forces operating in Mali, and the events of recent months involve Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso as well as armed groups linked to al-Qaeda.

No competing position is recorded against it on this dispute. What the recent events show is a contested picture: Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso launched joint airstrikes on militants in northern Mali, while rebels attacked Russian forces there, seizing a drone base, and Russia confirmed casualties. Mali's defence minister, Sadio Camara, was killed in coordinated attacks near Bamako by al-Qaeda-linked groups including JNIM, and one report said Russia's security model in Mali is faltering.