A monument honoring the late leader of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been unveiled in the Central African Republic (CAR).
The statue of Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash last year, was installed in the capital Bangui, next to that of his right-hand man Dmitru Utkin.
The statue shows Prigozhin in body armor, holding a walkie-talkie next to his colleague who is holding an AK-47 rifle.
Fighters from the Wagner group have been in CAR since 2018, when they were invited by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra to help tackle rebel groups.
The group’s subsidiaries have entered into contracts for the exploitation of gold and diamond mines.
They also operate in several other African countries, but their main presence is in the CAR.
A statement from the CAR National Police said the monument is “part of the bilateral relationship” between CAR and Russia.
The ceremony to unveil the statues was attended by Defense Minister Rameau Claude Bireau and top military officials.
Prigozhin and Utkin died along with others on August 23, 2023, after their private jet crashed northwest of Moscow, killing all on board.
It came two months after their aborted mutiny in Russia. The Kremlin denied it was responsible for the crash.
The Wagner Group has since been renamed Corps Africa, although it continues to operate as Wagner in CAR.
Flowers have been laid at the statue [AFP]
President Touadéra has defended their continued presence in the country.
“It was said that 80% of the territory was occupied by armed groups. Thanks to this collaboration, these figures are completely reversed today,” he told the BBC in an interview last December.
Even before the inauguration of the Prigozhin statue, Russia’s role in the country was immortalized by a statue in Bangui of Russian troops protecting a woman and her children.
[AFP]
CAR has one of the poorest populations in the world, despite being rich in diamonds, gold, oil and uranium.
It has been almost continuously unstable since its independence from France in 1960.
Violence has subsided in recent years, although fighting still occasionally breaks out between rebels and the Wagner-backed national army.
Critics say President Toudera’s government is supported by Russian mercenaries and other groups in exchange for exploiting the country’s resources.
Prigozhin founded Wagner in 2014 and initially worked mainly in the Middle East and Africa before being deployed to Ukraine in early 2022.
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[Getty Images/BBC]
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