ROME — Russian ships are unloading thousands of tons of military equipment at the eastern Libyan port of Tobruk this month following repeated visits by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov to General Khalifa Haftar, the strongman who rules eastern Libya.
The shipments, arriving from the Russian-controlled port of Tartus in Syria, contain towed artillery, armored personnel carriers and rocket launchers, according to a video released by Libyan news website Fawasel Media.
The equipment may in part be used to support Russia’s growing military presence in eastern Libya, but is also likely destined for countries further south in Africa, such as Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, where Russia has ties to the leaders of the recent coups.
Some experts see the rise in activity as a result of America’s diplomatic strategy against Haftar, which has failed to stop the warlord from allying with Russia and has given Moscow an opportunity to dump weapons into the country, turning it into a gateway to supply its growing presence. across Africa, the criticism continues.
“Eastern Libya is becoming an important staging post in Africa for Russia, and it comes after a serious mistake by Haftar from the US,” said Ben Fishman, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“There has been an ongoing effort by the US to engage with Haftar, rather than isolate him, but he has repeatedly defied our requests and the UN’s requests and has been close to Russia. The US approach has been to run the same football play over and over and expect a different result,” said Fishman, who previously served on the National Security Council.
Fishman said Haftar had received Russian visits and made trips to Moscow, and also had meetings in Libya with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf and US Special Envoy Richard Norland.
“Indeed, the day after Norland and the Africom commander visited Derna in eastern Libya after the floods last September, Haftar flew to Moscow,” he said.
“Their approach was, ‘He’ll get closer to Russia if we isolate him,’ but he got closer anyway, and Moscow benefits,” Fishman said.
Through Wagner’s mercenary proxies, Russia backed Haftar’s failed bid to take over western Libya in 2019 after the country split following the 2011 overthrow of national leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi.
US diplomacy has recently aimed to persuade Haftar to participate in national elections to reunify the country, while Moscow has reportedly focused on negotiating a permanent Russian naval presence in Tobruk, giving it a foothold in the central Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, as Russian military trainers arrive in Niger to support the coup d’état that took over the country last year, the fate of a US base in the country that launches drone flights across Africa hangs in the balance.
“For some US officials, Haftar is a good counter-terrorism asset, so they are ready to look away when he abuses human rights or gets into bed with the Russians,” said a former Western diplomat who declined to be named.
“But if the US is concerned about Russia’s growing role in Africa, then perhaps it should go beyond the occasional expression of concern,” the diplomat said.
On April 17, a US Navy MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicle flying from Sigonella Air Base in Sicily was monitoring Tobruk.
Fishman argued that the US should have sought the help of the UAE or Egypt, which supports Haftar. “Egypt is not interested in an increased Russian presence across the border in Libya – this was a missed opportunity,” he said.
“We never made it clear that isolation was an option. The next move could be sanctions, although that could be complicated by the fact that Haftar is a US citizen. Aware of the threat, he allegedly moved accounts outside the US,” Fishman said.
Before recruiting troops in Libya, Haftar was a CIA asset, living for years in Virginia.
Fishman said, “To reduce Russia’s ability to use Tobruk, there could be a disruption of the use of radar or the parking of vessels off the coast – but that is now impossible given our commitments in the Red Sea.”
Tom Kington is Defense News’ Italy correspondent.