Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defense told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces from the country.

Russian and US troops have been operating out of the same military base in Niger for at least several weeks, a US defense official and another source familiar with the matter told CNN, putting the two militaries in close proximity to each other at a time of heightened tensions over the war in Ukraine and as the country’s ruling junta has made clear it wants US forces to leave.

Russian military personnel have entered an air base that hosts U.S. troops in Niger’s capital, Niamey, marking a notable shift in the nation’s allegiance and the balance of international influence in West Africa.

Before a coup in Niger in July 2023 led to the demand that American troops leave the country, the U.S. used two Niger airbases to fly drones on counterterrorism missions in the Sahel region of Africa.

A U.S. official says Russia has moved some troops onto an airbase in Niger where a small number of U.S. forces remain after most American troops left the base in the nation’s capital

Proximity of the two countries’ forces follows request by junta ruling west African nation for the US to pull its troops out

Russian military personnel have been staying at an air base in Niger that also hosts U.S. troops and equipment, a U.S. official confirmed to The Hill Thursday. The news comes as roughly 1,000 American service members are expected to withdraw from Niger following deteriorating relations with the African nation after a military coup there

Russian and US troops have been operating out of the same military base in Niger for several weeks, according to a US defence official and another source familiar with the situation, as reported by CNN.