"Three Russian journalists killed in CAR"

Three Russian journalists were murdered in the night from Monday to Tuesday near Sibut, in the center of the Central African Republic. This reports the AFP news agency. The fact is still vague. It can be a robbery.

According to AFP, the bodies of the three men were left at the base of the UN mission in CAR (Minusca). The authors have not yet been captured.

There is a lot of uncertainty as to the identity of the three men. In any case, one of the victims had a Russian press card with him. According to various Russian media, it was a press card of the Russian newspaper Izvestia but this newspaper indicates that he did not send any journalist to CAR.

See also: "Genocide threatens the African Republic center"

The three men were probably on their way from the capital Bangui to the village of Bombari. According to Sibut Mayor Henri Depele, the three men and their driver were attacked about 23 kilometers from Sibut. Armed men would have jumped bushes and opened fire on the men's car. Only the driver would have survived the attack.

According to various Russian media, the victims are journalist Orchan Djemal, cameraman Kyril Radchenko and director Aleksandr Rastorguyev. The wife of Djemal would have already identified the body of her husband through a photo, she told The Bell . According to Russian media, the Russian Embassy in CAR did not know about the presence of journalists in the country.

Mercenaries

According to the Russian news agency Interfax, the film crew was in CAR to make a documentary about the organization of Russian mercenaries Wagner Group. Russia was authorized by the United Nations earlier this year to provide military training to the Central African armed forces. There are five military "instructors" and about 170 "civilian instructors" in the African country, where since 2012 a violent civil war has raged. They would form two battalions of about 1,300 soldiers in total. Russia also provides arms to the government.

The civilian "instructors" of the Wagner group are unclear. Officially, Russia denies that the mercenary organization is involved in foreign missions. But according to previous reports of the French newspaper Le Monde the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the radio station France Europe1 Wagner was also present in Ukraine, Syria and in Sudan.

The RCA training mission is officially aimed at strengthening the army, since a large part of the country is controlled by armed groups. But Russia is trying to strengthen its influence in a strategically important African country. Previously, France was a military presence in CAR, but no more since the end of 2016.