Several dozen protesters waving Russian flags gathered in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Tuesday as West African delegates arrived on a fact-finding mission after the country’s second coup in less than nine months.

Demonstrators chanted support for Russia, called on France to leave the country and warned ECOWAS – the Economic Community of West African States – against “interference”, saw an AFP journalist.

The impoverished Sahel state was thrown into turmoil over the weekend when Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who only took power in January, was ousted by a newly emerged rival, 34-year-old Captain Ibrahim Traore.

The dramatic takeover coincided with violent anti-French protests and the emergence of Russian flags among the protesters, fueling speculation that Traore could follow other regimes in French-speaking Africa and forge close ties with Moscow at France’s expense.

The ECOWAS delegation, originally scheduled to visit on Monday, arrived on Tuesday morning and was due to go to the President’s office to meet Traore, officials told AFP.

The bloc, tasked with promoting democracy in one of the world’s most volatile regions, has seen five coups among three of its 15 members in just over two years.

Their approach has been to urge junta leaders to set a relatively short timeline for restoring civilian rule – and to impose sanctions on those believed to be ignoring the demand or circumventing their pledges.

But she has also taken flak, with some critics accusing her of supporting Western or specifically French interests.

Traore said in a statement that the ECOWAS visit was to “contact the new transitional authorities” as part of the support ECOWAS provided to Burkina Faso.

He said he learned “with surprise and regret” that messages had been circulating on social media “calling for this mission to be obstructed,” and called for calm and restraint.

“Any person who commits acts aimed at disrupting the smooth running of the ECOWAS mission will be faced with the force of the law,” Traore said.

The ECOWAS visit to Ouagadougou will be led by Guinea-Bissau Foreign Minister Suzi Carla Barbosa, whose country currently chairs the bloc, and former Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, who is acting as mediator for Burkina Faso.

Landlocked and deeply poor, Burkina Faso has experienced little political stability since gaining independence from France in 1960.

The recent unrest comes against the backdrop of a bloody jihadist uprising that erupted from neighboring Mali in 2015.

Thousands of civilians, soldiers and police officers have been killed and almost two million people have fled their homes.

Swelling anger within the armed forces led to Damiba’s January 24 coup against President-elect Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Damiba proclaimed himself interim head of state and vowed to make security the country’s top priority, but after a brief lull, attacks resumed, claiming hundreds of lives.

Traore emerged on Friday at the head of a faction of disgruntled junior officers who announced Damiba had been deposed – in part because he had failed to roll back the uprising.

Damiba fled to neighboring Togo on Sunday after a two-day standoff defused by religious and community leaders.

Traore told French radio station RFI on Monday that he would stand by a promise Damiba made to ECOWAS for the restoration of civilian rule by July 2024.

He said he would just do “the day-to-day business” until a new interim president, civilian or military, is appointed by a national forum of political and social representatives.

This meeting will take place “well before the end of the year,” he said.