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‪The Sochi Summit, in October 2019, exemplified the return to Africa that Russia has initiated in recent years. This article proposes to study one of its facets, by exploring how Moscow has deployed its informational influence mechanisms in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. Three types of actors are identified: RT and Sputnik networks, the two main instruments of an expanding Russian mediated public diplomacy in the region; entrepreneurs of influence, who support Russia’s official agenda through their actions in the private sphere; a non-governmental organisation and a local radio station which, through ties to these geopolitical entrepreneurs, illustrate how Russian influence is increasingly intermediated and subcontracted. The composite ecosystem underlined here is combined with an analysis of the content produced by these actors. It aims at revealing the narratives and discourses of legitimisation or denigration that are promoted through the coverage of the Russian presence on the African continent.‪