A total of 600 Russian instructors to train Central African forces recently arrived in Bangui, Russian diplomacy told AFP on Thursday (July 1st), bringing to 1,135 the number of military experts officially deployed in the Central African Republic.
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"
Recently, a new group of instructors numbering 600 people (per group of 200 for the armed forces, police and gendarmerie) arrived in Bangui,
" the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a written response, adding that a "
notification to this effect has been sent
" to the relevant committee of the UN Security Council. Bangui announced the planned arrival of these men in May, but their actual deployment had not been formalized.
Russia, which had previously said that 535 instructors were on site, assures that none of the 1,135 men "
take part directly in combat operations against illegal armed groups
" and that they act according to "the
needs of the official authorities of RCA
”.
The announcement comes days after an annual report by UN experts contradicting Moscow.
A report denouncing "
violations of international humanitarian law
"
According to this report, Russian instructors in the Central African Republic committed with the Central African army "
violations of international humanitarian law
". They would also be up to 2100 on the ground. Numerous testimonies in multiple places in the Central African Republic report the participation of Russians in clashes but also in crimes. According to UN experts, Central African and Russian soldiers notably committed "
indiscriminate assassinations, the occupation of schools and large-scale looting, including of humanitarian organizations
".
The UN envoy to the Central African Republic, Mankeur Ndiaye, denounced in June the behavior of the Central African national forces and their Russian allies. The latter are often presented as being paramilitaries of the private group Wagner, reputed to be led by a close friend of President Vladimir Putin. This opaque organization, of which Moscow denies the existence, would be made up of veterans loyal to Russian power and responsible for sensitive missions, where Russia does not want to appear too officially.
The Kremlin rejects all of these accusations but has never specified who these men are and what institutions they depend on. The deployment of instructors is part of a vast diplomatic and financial offensive launched by Moscow in this former French colony plunged into civil war since 2013.
