After Prigozhin’s death, Wagner mercenaries will still operate in the Central African Republic but under direct control of Russia’s Defense Ministry, officials say.
BANGUI, Central African Republic — Since the mercenaries of Russia’s notorious Wagner Group first arrived here five years ago, they have embedded themselves in the security operations and economy of this impoverished but resource-rich country. While operating largely independently of Moscow, the group helped project Russian influence deep into Africa.
Fidele Gouandjika, an adviser to Touadéra, said that if the fighters don’t want to obey Russia’s Defense Ministry, they will have no choice but to depart. “It is Russia that sent them and armed them,” Gouandjika said, “and Russia that will decide when Wagner leaves.” Western officials and analysts said that operations also seem the same at Wagner’s enterprises in the country, including a massive gold mine, timber concessions and liquor businesses.
The group has “reached its tentacles” into CAR’s government and the most profitable parts of its economy, As Freddy Bed, 22, cracked his beer at the roadside bar, he said that it was thanks to Russians “that we are in safety today … So we appreciated them.”Before Prigozhin plane crash, Russia was preparing for life after Wagner
But when he took power in 2016, he estimated that 90 percent of the country was controlled by insurgents. The government needed weapons to defend itself but faced a United Nations arms embargo imposed in 2013, after a rebel force had toppled the government. Since CAR gained independence from France in 1960, rival armed factions, at times motivated by religious differences, have vied for control.
Danièle Darlan, a former chief judge of CAR’s constitutional court, said she was among those who at first thought the Russian fighters had come to secure the country. But more recently, she said, the Russians got involved in its politics.
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