Russian work at six Libyan air bases shows that Moscow is expanding its military foothold in North Africa, while transferring weapons, mercenaries and other fighters to war zones.
Russia is planning, funding, building and offering personnel to complete infrastructure projects at six Libyan air bases: Al-Jufra, Al-Khadim, Al-Qardabiyah, Brak al-Shati, Maaten al-Sarra and Tamanhint, according to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Tearline Project.
The air bases are scattered throughout the country and hold an array of military equipment, including air defense systems, MiG-29 fighter planes and drones. Russian military personnel and mercenaries operate them. Russia also reportedly plans to invest in Tobruk Port and Tobruk Air Base.
Russia used Syria as a Middle Eastern transit hub for equipment, weapons and personnel until the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The Kremlin then pivoted to Libya. After Russia initially failed to secure a port in Libya, it expanded inland.
“The Maaten al-Sarra airbase provides a key example,” wrote Frank Talbot, nonresident senior fellow with the North Africa Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Rafid Hariri Center & Middle East program. “This strategically located airbase near the borders with Chad and Sudan is a staging point for Russia’s destabilizing operations across the Sahel.”
The air base in southern Libya sat abandoned since 2011 until Russia deployed Syrian soldiers to reestablish it in December 2024. The Kremlin can directly supply Burkina Faso, Mali and Sudan from Maaten al-Sarra, Italian news agency Agenzia Nova reported. Russian technicians and Syrian troops have restored runways and warehouses at the base.
“A Russian presence at Matan al-Sarra would provide Moscow with the ability to ship arms to Sudanese or Chadian territory quietly,” analyst Andrew McGregor wrote for The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor online publication.
Russia’s military presence in Libya also is hindering Tripoli’s fragile unification process by stifling efforts to expel foreign troops and mercenaries. “It remains an obstacle to a lasting peace settlement, enabling foreign-backed domestic factions to resist peace efforts,” analyst Ali Bin Musa wrote for the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.
Located about 100 kilometers east of Benghazi, the Al-Khadim air base has been used as a hub for conducting operations, supplying arms, and trafficking resources in and out of the restive region, including delivering weapons to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces during the country’s civil war.
Last year, three new hangars, a recreational center, a possible communications tower, and potential temporary housing units or support buildings were built at the base, Tearline reported. What appear to be barracks were added in 2026.
In 2025, All Eyes on Wagner, an open-source investigative project, documented the travels of a man working for Gazprom, a Russian energy company. The man had traveled from Al-Khadim to a Russian-controlled mine in the Central African Republic in 2023 and posted pictures of his journey on Instagram.
“Al Kadim itself appears to be hosting Russian personnel regularly,” Tearline reported. “Using social media geolocation tools, we were able to identify a Russian citizen deployed on al Kadim.” The person was an officer with Russia’s 102nd Motorized Rifle Infantry Division.
Russian paramilitary forces have used the Al-Jufra Air Base in central Libya since 2019. Recent upgrades to the base include renovated hangars and the construction of small buildings, fences, berms and sheds, according to Tearline.
Russian forces first were observed at Al-Qardabiyah Air Base in 2022. The base is attached to Sirte International Airport. Russian forces built new infrastructure, refurbished runways and set up “new perimeter defenses” at Al-Quardabiyah in 2024, The Telegraph reported. A hangar was repaired at the base this year.
Since March 2024, Russian forces have expanded their operations at Brak al‑Shati Air Base in central-southwest Libya. At least one new hangar and two buildings likely used for aircraft maintenance have been built recently, according to Tearline. The number of Russian personnel at the base has increased from 300 to 450 since December 2024.
By mid-2023, Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries, which preceded the Africa Corps, reportedly used the Tamanhint Air Base in southern Libya to launch military operations and facilitate arms shipments to Sudan. Expansion projects, including likely new housing quarters, a resurfaced road connecting a runway to hangars and runway modifications have been reported recently.