Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have all seen coups in recent years, and in each case, departing Western troops have been replaced by Russian weapons, advisors, and propaganda. This DW documentary travels through the Sahel, one of the world's youngest and poorest regions, where the film team works in countries hostile to independent journalism and interviews sources who risk arrest or worse to speak on camera. The film traces how the Kremlin built its foothold after France and other Western powers withdrew, trading security assistance and disinformation campaigns for access to gold, uranium, and other resources, while juntas use Russian backing to consolidate power. It also examines why many locals initially welcomed the shift, weighing decades of unmet Western promises of democracy and development against the reality of terrorism that now accounts for over half of the world's terrorism-related deaths in the region. Interviews with residents, journalists, and analysts anchor a picture of a region turned into a stage for great-power rivalry.