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DISINFO: No Russian soldiers are fighting in Central Africa

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

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Military Africa Foreign mercenaries

DISINFO: No Russian soldiers are fighting in Central Africa

SUMMARY

Russian soldiers are not taking part in the combat actions in the Central African Republic.

RESPONSE

A recurring disinformation narrative about Russian military presence in Africa.

While it is being reported that no Russian soldiers are officially involved in the fighting in the Central African Republic, there are many indices that a shadowy Russian mercenary firm called the Wagner Group, is very much active in the region. Ange Maxime Kazagui, CAR government spokesman, said Russia had sent "several hundred soldiers and heavy weapons".

The Russian firm has been secretly waging wars on the Kremlin’s behalf from Ukraine to Syria to the Central African Republic. They are mostly ex-service personnel who are fighting clandestinely in support of Russian forces.

According to Foreign Policy, the group fell into disgrace after the Syrian offensive and after training local militias in Africa. Three Russian journalists who were investigating Wagner's presence in the Central African Republic were murdered, others were threatened.

The Wagner mercenaries who are scattered around CAR, often guarding lucrative gold and diamond mines, have been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close associate oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, often called “Putin’s Chef”.

Prigozhin’s conglomerate includes a company called Lobaye Invest that funds the radio station in CAR. It also finances the training of army recruits in the CAR with more than 250 Russian mercenaries.

To learn more about disinformation regarding the Wagner group, please refer to our report.

Read more about similar cases claiming that the US lies about the Russian presence to gain access to oil resources, or that news about Wagner in Libya distorts Russian policy, or even that Wagner is not supported by Russia.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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