CHRIS ROPER: Putin’s helicopter kickback for Zimbabwe
Vladimir Putin’s gift of a helicopter to Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks to a shoring up of support on the one hand and a special kind of venality on the other
Last week, beloved leader of Russia and bosom friend to Africa Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin gave the president of Zimbabwe a shiny new helicopter at the Russia-Africa summit. Nice.
On the sidelines of the summit in St Petersburg the day before — and I’m sure this is a coincidence — President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that Zimbabwe fully supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This according to footage from Africanews, as shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. To be precise, Mnangagwa said to Putin: “Zimbabwe is in solidarity with the Russian Federation in your country’s special military operation in Ukraine.” ..
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