The Russian ambassador to the Central African Republic (CAR) says the Wagner Group, a mercenary organisation with ties to the Kremlin, has 1,890 “Russian instructors” working there.”
According to ambassador Alexander Bikantov, there are currently 1,890 Russian instructors in the C.A.R., according to a Friday interview with the Russian state-owned news agency RIA. The government wants to increase their population. Bangui just recently submitted the necessary application to the UN Security Council.
Yevgeny Prigozhin founded The Wagner Group, which has since grown to be a significant player in CAR, largely replacing former colonial power France.
The mineral-rich Central African country is one of the poorest countries in the world. Wagner initially intervened on the side of the government to quell a civil war which has raged since 2012.
Western countries and the United Nations have accused the mercenaries of committing human rights abuses in the country and elsewhere in the Sahel.
“They essentially run the Central African Republic” and are a growing force in Mali, General Stephen Townsend, the commander of US armed forces in Africa, told a Senate hearing in March 2022.
Wagner, which is deeply involved in the Ukraine war, has recruited extensively in Russia’s penal system and has previously deployed to Syria, Libya and Mali, among other countries.
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