Africa-Press – Gambia. Hundreds of troops in the Wagner paramilitary organization have been seen flying out of the Central African Republic in recent days, prompting questions about whether Moscow is purging the group after its mutiny in Russia last month.
More than 600 Wagner employees were spotted this week departing from the airport in the capital Bangui, according to members of nongovernmental organizations and analysts tracking events in the African country.
Press obtained a video that appears to show dozens of Wagner operatives in uniform at a military base in Bangui this week. Gathered near a helipad, they sorted through bags and other belongings spread out on the ground around them.
The regional French-language newspaper Jeune Afrique first reported the departure of hundreds of Wagner personnel on Thursday.
The flights came as the Kremlin has sought to reassert its authority over the organization two weeks after a short-lived rebellion in which Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin openly defied Russian President Vladimir Putin and ordered his troops fighting in Ukraine to march on Moscow.
The June 23-24 rebellion ended after Belarus brokered a deal between Wagner and Putin’s government. But how the Russian president will manage the group’s sprawling military and business operations in the Middle East and Africa remains an open question.
It was unclear if the departure of the Wagner personnel from the Central African Republic was part of a routine rotation of troops, a large-scale sacking by Moscow designed to curtail Progozhin’s influence, or if Wagner loyalists have refused to work under the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Moscow might be attempting to re-establish its control over Wagner’s forces, but it is still too early to draw any firm conclusions, according to Nathalia Dukhan, senior investigator at The Sentry, a nonprofit advocacy group that reports on corruption, repression and human rights abuses.
Other experts agreed. “Purges are very likely, as loyalty is the hot button issue of the moment for Putin,” said Alia Brahimi, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank.
In the days after the mutiny, Putin praised Russian military leaders for fending off Prigozhin’s mutiny and for averting a “civil war.” Russian authorities have raided Wagner’s headquarters in St. Petersburg.
Fidele Gouandjika, an adviser to Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, said there had been “no change” in the Wagner Group’s presence in recent days. Russian “instructors” were still on the ground, along with the organization’s senior leader, Vitali Perfilev, Gouandjika told.
The mutiny led by Prigozhin two weeks ago was “an internal matter for Russia,” he said, adding that the Central African Republic had an agreement with the Russian Federation, not the Wagner group.
A senior Wagner representative in the country, Dmitry Sytii, who runs the Russian cultural center, also implied that the paramilitaries had not been ordered to leave the country, telling that: “I haven’t started to pack my bags yet. When is the plane?”
Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said it was unclear if Wagner was facing a major shake-up in the African nation.
NBC News
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