Burkina Faso last year experienced two military coups — both triggered in part by discontent at failures to stem a raging jihadist insurgency. More than 17,000 people have died in attacks since 2015, more than 6,000 just since the start of this year, according to a count by an NGO monitor called the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

Maybe Russia knows something I don’t?