Russia is increasing its African influence by deploying American soldiers nearby at Air Base 101 in Niger

Russian troops have moved into a West African airfield hosting US soldiers, raising concerns that Moscow could exploit an expected US withdrawal by gaining control of strategic military bases within striking distance of southern Europe.

The Pentagon has confirmed that Russian troops have been deployed to Air Base 101, located at the international airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger, a former US ally in West Africa until the military coup in the country last July.

An estimated 60 to 100 Russian troops arrived in Niger last month after the new junta ordered Washington to withdraw its troops. The timing of the US withdrawal is unclear, and hundreds of US troops remain in the country as negotiations between the United States and the Niger regime are ongoing.

The Russian forces are reportedly in a hangar at the airport, separate from the US forces, and the two sides are not mingling. But the deployment has symbolic significance, showing that Moscow can increase its military presence in former US allied states in Africa even if there are US troops on the ground nearby. It could also allow Russia to move further north into Niger, to a major American airport within reach of Europe.

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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that Russian forces do not pose any risk to Pentagon forces at Niamey airport. The Russians have no access to American troops or equipment, he said.

“I am always focused on the safety and protection of our troops,” Mr. Austin said at a news conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, last week. “But right now I don’t see a significant problem here in terms of our force protection.”

The bigger question, however, is the fate of a major US drone base in northern Niger, near the city of Agadez. The location, known as Airbase 201, has been a key base for US surveillance drones in their counter-terrorism efforts in West Africa, and acquiring it would be a lucrative asset for Russia.

The Pentagon, which spent more than $100 million building the drone base in 2016, has deployed as many as 1,100 troops to the site in the past. It curtailed the base’s surveillance activities after last year’s military coup.

Niger’s military junta said in March that the United States must end its military presence in the country, which it described as “illegal.” It complained that Washington had pressured the regime to abandon a possible security deal with Russia.

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Moscow, using military contractors as a proxy, has deployed thousands of troops in recent years to African countries near Niger, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Libya and the Central African Republic, following security deals with those countries. The country’s arrival in Niger – under the banner of Russia’s Afrika Korps, a paramilitary contractor – has strengthened its influence across much of West Africa and neighboring regions.

Analysts say Russia is unlikely to deploy significant numbers of reinforcements or drones to Niger in the near future, especially as the Afrika Korps has had recruitment problems. But in the longer term, its presence in Niger could be of strategic value, especially in any potential conflict between Russia and NATO forces in Europe.

The presence of Russian forces in northern Niger “would create an opportunity for the Kremlin to deploy drones in the area to threaten NATO’s southern flank in the future,” said a report last month from the Critical Threats Project, a unit of analysis of the American Enterprise. Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.

In the war in Ukraine, the report noted, Russia fielded a growing number of Iranian-made Shahed drones, some of which would have sufficient range to reach southern Italy if deployed in Agadez.

In addition, a Russian military presence in northern Niger could allow Moscow to influence the country’s uranium exports, a key source of supply for the French energy system, the report said. France depends on Niger for almost 20 percent of the uranium it has imported over the past decade.

Northern Niger is also a major migration route from Africa to Europe, which could give Moscow leverage over migration flows to Europe, the report said, noting that Russia has repeatedly caused migration crises in the past in an attempt to destabilize European countries.