Gunships in the Sudan
I was working in the Sudan a couple of years ago. A 'Hind' had landed a couple of days beforehand with a tail rotor control problem. It remained there for about a month and nobody paid it the slightest bit of attention. After I had been there about a month people suddenly started swarming over the aircraft and within a short period of time it was flown to a secure base further to the north. That night the local militia (neighbours) was attacked by people bent on mischief. The helicopter itself looked as though it had taken a number of hits in the past but these did not seem to have affected its servicability. Professional curiosity meant that the engineer and myself were guests at their site. I did not notice any Russion pilots, nor did I hear any Russian being spoken on their military frequencies.
There are a great number of Russians based at el Obeid who are working for the UN and there were a number of Iraqui pilots who had been seconded to their air force.