Hundreds of soldiers from the Wagner paramilitary organization have been seen leaving the Central African Republic in recent days, raising questions about whether Moscow is purging the group after its mutiny in Russia last month.
More than 600 Wagner Group employees were seen leaving the airport in the capital Bangui this week, according to members of non-governmental organizations and analysts who track events in the Central African Republic (CAR).
NBC News obtained video that appears to show dozens of uniformed Wagner agents at a military base in Bangui this week. Gathered near a helipad, they sorted through bags and other belongings scattered on the ground around them.
Obtained by NBC News
The regional French-language newspaper Jeune Afrique first reported the departure of hundreds of Wagner employees on Thursday.
The flights came as the Kremlin has sought to assert its authority over the organization two weeks after a short-lived rebellion in which Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin openly defied Russian President Vladimir Putin and ordered his troops who were fighting in the Ukraine to march on Moscow.
The June 23-24 rebellion ended after Belarus brokered an agreement between Wagner and Putin’s government. But how the Russian president will handle the group’s expanding military and commercial operations in the Middle East and Africa remains an open question.
It was unclear whether the departure of Wagner’s staff from the Central African Republic was part of a routine troop rotation, a large-scale looting by Moscow designed to reduce Progozhin’s influence, or whether Wagner loyalists refused to work. under the Russian Defense Ministry.
Moscow may be trying to reestablish its control over Wagner’s forces, but it’s still too early to draw any firm conclusions, according to Nathalia Dukhan, a senior researcher at The Sentry, a nonprofit advocacy group that reports on corruption, repression and abuses against human rights.
Other experts agreed. “Purges are highly likely as loyalty is the hot topic 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 the Prigozhin mutiny and avoiding a “civil war.” Russian authorities raided Wagner’s headquarters in Saint Petersburg.
Fidele Gouandjika, adviser to RCA president Faustin-Archange Touadéra, said there had been “no change” in the presence of the Wagner Group in recent days. The Russian “instructors” were still on the ground along with the organization’s top leader, Vitali Perfilev, Gouandjika told NBC News.
The Prigozhin-led mutiny two weeks ago was “an internal Russian matter,” he said, adding that the CAR had an agreement with the Russian Federation, not the Wagner group.
A senior Wagner representative in the country, Dmitry Sytii, who heads the Russian cultural center, also implied that the paramilitaries had not been ordered to leave the country, telling NBC News: “I haven’t started doing the suitcases. When is the plane?
Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said it was unclear whether Wagner was facing a major shakeup in the Central African Republic.
“We are hearing rumors from multiple sources, including some at the airport, but the movement of Wagner’s forces 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 lessening his intent to exploit African countries.”
Wagner’s mercenaries first came to RCA in 2018 as military advisers and have worked alongside the nation’s armed forces to fight a rebellion threatening the government. The US government and human rights groups have accused Wagner of committing atrocities in Africa and exploiting the countries’ gold and diamond mines. In January, the United States designated Wagner as a transnational criminal organization.
The Kremlin is likely to rename Wagner and expel some figures considered too close to Prigozhin, said Colin Clarke, a senior fellow at The Soufan Center, a nonprofit think tank that focuses on global security issues.
But even with a “rebrand,” Russia is unlikely to back out of the Wagner security contracts, disinformation operations and mining ventures that have fueled Moscow’s reach in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Clarke and other experts said.
“The services that Wagner provides to the Russians in Africa are essential,” Clarke said. “That is not going to go away. They need it.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a recent interview with Russia Today that the Prigozhin revolt would not affect Moscow’s relations with “partners and friends” and that Wagner’s agents would remain in the Central African Republic, Mali and other African countries.
“At their request, several hundred soldiers are working at the CAR as instructors; this work, of course, will continue,” Lavrov said.
In public comments after the riot, Putin thanked the army and law enforcement for stopping the rebellion and said for the first time publicly that the government had financed the Wagner Group, providing 86 billion rubles, or about $1 billion.
“While Wagner is referred to as a private military company, it is actually not a wholly private military company. It’s really a creature of the Russian military intelligence agency,” said Kimberly Marten, a professor at Barnard College, Columbia University.
Experts said Putin’s admission means Russia will have no way to deny responsibility for Wagner’s abuses in Africa and other parts of the world.
“The Wagner Group’s exploitative business and security model, involving predatory economic policies and atrocities against civilians, is now attributable to the Russian state,” said the Atlantic Council’s Brahimi. “The veil has been lifted and Putin will have to personally take charge of the predation in North and sub-Saharan Africa.”
