Benin–Russia relations Benin–Russia relations Benin–Russia relations () is the relationship between the two countries, Benin and Russia. The Soviet Union recognised the Republic of Dahomey as an independent and sovereign state on 18 August 1960, and diplomatic relations between the two states were established on 4 June 1962. From 24 July 1962, diplomatic relations between the two countries were conducted via the Soviet Embassy in Togo, until 1 February 1966, when the first Soviet Ambassador to Benin, Alexander Nikitich Abramov, was appointed. Relations between the two countries were initially minimal, however, Soviet interactions with the country intensified after Mathieu Kérékou came to
Benin standard of measurement for the 10% target. Benin has the third-highest publication intensity for scientific journals in West Africa, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science, Science Citation Index Expanded. There were 25.5 scientific articles per million inhabitants cataloged in this database in 2014. This compares with 65.0 for the Gambia, 49.6 for Cape Verde, 23.2 for Senegal and 21.9 for Ghana. The volume of publications in this database tripled in Benin between 2005 and 2014 from 86 to 270. Between 2008 and 2014, Benin's main scientific collaborators were based in France (529 articles), United States (261), United Kingdom (254),