The Soviet Union gave significant amounts of aid to the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) during the Namibian War of Independence.

With the end of South Africa's violently racist apartheid rule in Namibia in 1990, the Soviet Union and its successor state Russia established diplomatic relations with the country.

Also in 2006, the Namibia-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation was officially opened during a visit by Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev to Windhoek.

Top foreign ministry official Marco Hausiku and his deputy Lempy Lucas represented Namibia in discussions with Trutnev.

At a ministerial level, [Sergey] "Lavrov expressed gratitude for Namibia's support for Russia's initiatives at the United Nations".