Mali, the ass end of nowhere, is also the gateway to Burkina Fasso. And vice-versa.
Apparently the place is rich in both gold and uranium.
Most of the people live in the southwest corner, which is more fertile. The north is in the Sahara and has an Islamist separatist movement. Timbuktu is on the southern border (the Niger River) but is the largest town near the northern fighting, so that’s why the Russians are there and not in the capital city of Bamako which is in the southwest also.
Gold and uranium. Where’s Bond?