Russia and Nigeria have signed a deal for Moscow to supply 12 Mi-35 attack helicopters to Nigeria, a senior official at Russia’s federal military-technical cooperation service said on Wednesday, the RIA news agency reported.
The contract was announced as Russia welcomed dozens of African heads of state to the southern Russian city of Sochi amid a push by Moscow for clout on the continent.
Over 50 African leaders made their way to the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on October 23-24 for the inaugural Russia-Africa summit.
The summit is widely seen as a reflection of Russia’s push for economic and military influence in Africa. More than 3,000 delegates from African countries and Russia are at the summit to discuss everything from nuclear energy to natural resources extraction.
While at the summit, President Muhammadu Buhari led the Nigerian delegation to meet with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin in a strategic bilateral meeting.
