Global Courant
Hundreds of troops from the Wagner paramilitary organization have been seen flying out of the Central African Republic in recent days, raising the question of whether Moscow is purging the group after Russia’s mutiny last month.
According to members of non-governmental organizations and analysts following events in the Central African Republic (CAR), more than 600 Wagner Group employees were spotted departing from the airport in the capital Bangui this week.
NBC News this week obtained video showing dozens of Wagner agents in uniform at a military base in Bangui. They gathered at a helipad and sorted bags and other belongings scattered on the ground around them.
An image from a video obtained by NBC News that appears to show dozens of Wagner agents in uniform at a military base in the capital Bangui.
Obtained by NBC News
The regional French-language newspaper Jeune Afrique reported for the first time on Thursday the departure of hundreds of Wagner employees.
The flights came as the Kremlin attempted to reassert its authority over the organization two weeks after a short-lived uprising in which Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin openly challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin and ordered his troops fighting in Ukraine to march on Moscow.
The June 23–24 uprising ended after Belarus brokered a deal between Wagner and Putin’s government. But how the Russian president will manage the group’s vast military and business activities in the Middle East and Africa remains an open question.
It was unclear whether the departure of the Wagner personnel from CAR was part of a routine troop rotation, a large-scale looting by Moscow to curtail Progozhin’s influence, or whether Wagner loyalists refused to work under the Russian Defense Ministry .
Moscow may be trying to regain control of Wagner’s forces, but it is too early to draw firm conclusions, said Nathalia Dukhan, a senior researcher at The Sentry, a nonprofit advocacy group that reports on corruption, repression and human rights violations.
Other experts agreed. “Suctions are very likely because loyalty is the most important issue of the moment for Putin,” said Alia Brahimi, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank.
In the days following the mutiny, Putin praised Russian military leaders for fending off Prigozhin’s mutiny and averting “civil war.” Russian authorities raided Wagner’s headquarters in St. Petersburg.
Fidele Gouandjika, adviser to CAR president Faustin-Archange Touadéra, said there has been “no change” in the presence of the Wagner Group in recent days. Russian “instructors” were still on the ground along with the organization’s senior leader, Vitali Perfilev, Gouandjika told NBC News.
The mutiny led by Prigozhin two weeks ago was “an internal affair of 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 suggested the paramilitaries had not been ordered to leave the country. He told NBC News: “I haven’t started packing my bags yet. When is the plane?”
Lewis Mudge, Human Rights Watch’s Central Africa director, said it was unclear whether Wagner was dealing with a major upheaval in the CAR.
“We hear rumors from multiple sources, including from some at the airport, but the movement of Wagner troops in and out of Bangui M’Poko International Airport is not unusual in itself,” Mudge said. “So for now, it’s still a wait and see situation.”
The White House National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment. Last week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there was “no indication that Wagner is diminishing his intent to exploit African countries.”
Wagner mercenaries first arrived in CAR in 2018 as military advisers and have been working alongside the country’s armed forces to fight an insurgency that threatens the government. The US government and human rights organizations have accused Wagner of committing atrocities in Africa and exploiting countries’ gold and diamond mines. In January, the US labeled Wagner a transnational criminal organization.
The Kremlin will likely change Wagner’s name and expel some figures deemed too close to Prigozhin, said Colin Clarke, a senior research fellow at The Soufan Center, a nonprofit research center focused on global security issues.
But even with a rebrand, Russia is unlikely to pull out of Wagner’s security contracts, disinformation operations and mining projects that have expanded Moscow’s reach in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, Clarke and other experts said.
“The services Wagner provides to the Russians in Africa are essential,” Clarke said. “That is not going away. They need it.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a recent interview with Russia Today that Prigozhin’s uprising would not affect Moscow’s relations with “partners and friends” and that Wagner agents in the Central African Republic, Mali and other African countries would remain.
“At their request, several hundred military personnel are working in the CAR as instructors – this work will, of course, continue,” said Lavrov.
In public remarks following the mutiny, Putin thanked the military and law enforcement for stopping the uprising and said publicly for the first time that the government had funded the Wagner Group, worth 86 billion rubles or about $1 billion.
“Even though Wagner is called a private military company, it is really not a completely private military company. It really is a creature of Russian military intelligence,” said Kimberly Marten, a professor at Barnard College, Columbia University.
Experts said Putin’s admission means there is no way for Russia to deny responsibility for Wagner’s abuses in Africa and other parts of the world.
“The Wagner Group’s exploitative business and security model, which involves predatory economic policies and atrocities against civilians, is now attributable to the Russian state,” said Brahimi of the Atlantic Council. “The veil has been lifted and Putin will have to personally own the predation in North and sub-Saharan Africa.”
