Final answer:
The USSR supported Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba's central government during the Congo Crisis, providing weapons and military advisors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The USSR supported Patrice Lumumba's central government during the Congo Crisis.
During the tumultuous time of the Congo Crisis in the early 1960s, the Soviet Union extended its support to the newly independent Congo's Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. Following the secession of the mineral-rich province of Katanga, Lumumba sought assistance from the United Nations but did not receive the support he needed to quell the secessionist forces.
The refusal of the UN and the United States to help Lumumba compelled him to turn to the Soviet Union, which eagerly provided military advisors and weapons. This move solidified Lumumba's government in the eyes of the West as being aligned with communism, which was part of the broader context of the Cold War dynamics between the U.S. and the USSR.