Central African Republic: Under Russian influence

Two Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group provide security for President Faustin-Archange Touadéra during a ceremony on December 1, 2019. © Clément Di Roma, FRANCE 24

Since 2018, mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group, an effective secret army of the Kremlin, have been active in Central African Republic. They protect the impoverished country's regime in exchange for valuable mineral resources and deploy a massive propaganda campaign to cover up the massacres, rapes and torture they are accused of. Taking advantage of France's loss of influence in its former colony, Russia is seen to be using Central African Republic – a country ripped apart by decades of civil war – as a testing ground in a new battle for global influence. FRANCE 24's Carol Valade and Clément Di Roma report.