According to a Russian private security firm, several hundred skilled Wagner fighters have come in the Central African Republic to protect a referendum on July 30.
Voters in the volatile country, where Wagner mercenaries are already assisting the government in fighting rebels, will decide whether to amend the constitution to allow President Faustin Archange Touadera to run for a third term.
“Another plane has arrived in Bangui with instructors to work in the Central African Republic,” said the Officers’ Union for International Security (OUIS).
“The planned rotation continues. Several hundred experienced professionals from the Wagner company are joining the team working in CAR,” said the statement.
In order to maintain security ahead of the constitutional referendum slated for July 30, Russian instructors will keep assisting soldiers in the Central African armed forces.
The United States claims that OUIS is a front organisation for the Wagner group in CAR. Alexandre Ivanov, a Russian who was subject to American sanctions in January, is the company’s director.
According to OUIS’s statement, the CAR’s security forces have been receiving training from its teachers for more than five years, which has improved the nation’s overall security.
The administration has refuted recent claims made by a number of foreign publications claiming Wagner fighters were evacuating the CAR.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private paramilitary squad conducted a brief coup against the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 23 and 24, and its survival is now in doubt.
In accordance with a pact negotiated with Putin and arranged by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, the specifics of which are still unknown, Wagner forces took control of Russian army locations and proceeded towards Moscow before stepping down.
However, its international efforts, particularly in Syria and a number of African nations, have not received much public criticism.