Their presence in the small Spanish-speaking central African nation stems from military agreements passed last year to deploy Russian "instructors" for training purposes.

But no training sessions have yet been organised since the first contingent arrived in August 2024, according to military sources.

In front of dignitaries on the seafront of Equatorial Guinea's capital, the Russian soldiers performed "a series of military exercises with blank ammunition and an exhibition of military equipment", Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue wrote on X.

Soldiers from both countries also paid tribute to Russian soldiers who died during World War II by laying wreaths of flowers.

"We are very pleased with the excellent services provided by the Russian military personnel in our country," said Candido Nkogo Engono, Equatorial Guinea's deputy defence minister, at a ceremony where senior local troops who were trained in Russia were decorated.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea with an iron fist for 45 years, was among leaders invited to a military parade in Moscow by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Security sources contacted by AFP said that foreign paramilitaries, estimated at around 300, were still bringing in material, weapons and vehicles to Equatorial Guinea.

At the end of April, the country's vice president denied that Russian mercenaries were in Equatorial Guinea, or that local troops had been deployed to Russia to fight in Ukraine.