Foreign media actively promote the story about the fact that "Russian troops were sent to pacify the rebellion in one of the countries of Africa." As it turned out in the last few hours, several hundred Russian military instructors were actually sent to the Central African Republic (CAR). What is happening in this state and how can Russia help the local government?
The official representative of the government of the Central African Republic (CAR), ange Maxim Kazagi, said that the CAR leadership has asked Russia and Rwanda to help in suppressing another rebellion. "The two countries mentioned responded positively to this call and took measures to provide effective support, which was provided on the same day," the CAR government said in a statement released on Sunday evening. According to Mr. Kazagi, "several hundred" Russian military personnel with equipment have already arrived in the capital Bangui "within the framework of bilateral agreements." He did not say when exactly it happened, but everything points to Sunday, December 20.
Russian Ambassador to the Central African REPUBLIC Vladimir Titorenko told RIA Novosti that the situation in the capital Bangui is stable, but there are clashes in some areas. Additional forces of the United Nations Multidisciplinary integrated stabilization mission in CAR (MINURCA), in other words, peacekeepers, are being sent there. This was confirmed by the head of MINURCA, Vladimir Monteiro. Ambassador Titorenko also said: "In addition to five foreign employees of the defense Ministry of the defense Central African Republic in Bangui, there are no other Russian troops. But there are instructors who train the army of the CAR at the request of the government of this country. From time to time by their rotation. Another 14 Russian officers are serving here as part of the UN peacekeeping mission."
Russian Deputy foreign Minister and special presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov said that Russia is " ready to help ensure the security and unity of the country." At the same time, the government of Rwanda readily confirmed that Rwandan troops had already entered the territory of the CAR and participated in the battles with the rebels. "This is a response to the attacks that the rebels, supported by Francois Bozize, are carrying out against the contingent of the Rwandan defense forces as part of UN peacekeepers," the Rwandan defense Ministry said in a statement.
Finally, on Tuesday evening, the Russian foreign Ministry brought full clarity to what was happening. According to the statement of the foreign Ministry, "Russia, as part of its assistance to Bangui in strengthening the defense capability of the Central African Republic, promptly responded to the request of its leadership and sent an additional 300 instructors to train national army soldiers." Thus, earlier reports were confirmed that at least one IL-76MD of the Russian aerospace forces had already landed at Bangui airport, in the unloading of which the famous" Ural-4320 " sand-colored took part.
What happened again in the Central African Republic?
On the upcoming Sunday, December 27, presidential and parliamentary elections are to be held in the CAR at the same time. So far, the incumbent President Faustin-Arcange Touader has every chance of winning, declaring "equidistance" from all religious, ethnic and political groups for the sake of "ensuring the unity and security" of the CAR.
In the summer of this year, the kwa Na Kwa ("Work, only work" in the Songo language) party formed around former CAR President Francois Bozize, composed of various armed groups that went into opposition (that is, into the jungle). It is noteworthy that it includes representatives of the former armed groups of Christians and Muslims "anti-Balaka" and "Seleka", which during the recent civil war destroyed each other by the thousands. This amazing Alliance is temporarily grouped around 73-year-old Francois Bozize, who received the rank of General under Bocasse and his family (son Francis and nephew). François bozizé, was nominated as a presidential candidate as an alternative Touadera.
In the CAR, there is an electoral qualification: a presidential candidate must live in the territory of the CAR for a year before submitting documents for registration. Registration took place from 1 to 10 November this year. Not a terrible limitation, but a critical one for Francois Bozize.
He is accused of several attempted coups, and an Interpol warrant for war crimes has been issued against him. And he has long lived in Cameroon, then in his native Gabon (he is from the gbaya people, who live not only in the car, but also in some neighboring countries).
Bozize submitted a paper to the CEC, according to which he had been in the territory of the CAR since the autumn of last year, that is, it met the requirement of the qualification. But the exact date of his arrival in the CAR was known: he flew to Bangui from Cameroon on December 19, 2019, that is, he did not pass the residency qualification. They caught and interrogated an elder of the village of Gaga near the town of Bosango in the province of Huam, who signed a fictitious residence document for Bozize. He confessed everything. And on December 8, the constitutional court of the CAR removed Francois Bozize from the elections.
The leaders of the armed groups that nominated Bozize for President intimidated the judges of the constitutional court for several days, but to no avail. The judges, like President Touadera, are guarded by very white people who don't know a word of French, much less Songo. Then the "oppositionists" created instead of the kwa Na Kwa party an armed "coalition of patriots for change", which moved from the jungle on the border with Cameroon towards the capital Bangui.
On Saturday, they stormed the large city of Mbaiki, 107 km from the capital, by local standards. French-speaking sources reported that the rebels defeated there either a detachment of "Wagner", or one of the units that were prepared according to the program of Russian training of the army of the CAR. There is no additional evidence of this, and these parts themselves should not be in Mbaiki, they are located in completely different areas of the country, around the diamond mines. The CAR government declared the incident an attempted coup d'etat. In the direction of Mbaiki (to the South-West of the capital), columns of government troops and "blue helmets" moved.
The rebels threatened to encircle the capital. The nuance here is that right on the road from Mbaiki to the capital is the former Villa of Bokassa "Berengo", on the territory of which the Russian training camp is located, both Russian instructors and military personnel of the CAR live there. The rebels would not be able to bypass or avoid it if they decided to move further on the capital. So they clearly started attacking from the wrong direction. They are clearly not up to the task of taking the Berengo.
Most likely, the CAR government simply did not expect the opposition to take up arms so quickly.
With the mediation of the Russians in the last two years, it was possible to transfer political life in the CAR to a peaceful course. No one defiantly disarmed the former anti-Balaka and Seleka detachments, but still managed to convince their leaders that the continuation of the civil war is not the most productive way of developing the country.
According to some reports, it was the Russian side that secretly proposed to President Faustin-Arcange Touadere and former groups of multi-lingual and multi-religious militants a new national idea for the CAR: the "reassembly" of the country without taking into account the prevailing religious and tribal contradictions. We are no longer Muslims or Christians, not gbaya, Banda, ngbandi, Zande or Sara, but a "new historical community", the Central African people (people who remember the USSR will understand). On this basis, the CAR will thrive in peace and unity, receiving rent from mining. Diamonds, gold, uranium, and even a little oil. That's enough for everyone. We'll agree on the details later. And Faustin-Arcange Touadera, who won almost 70% of the vote in the 2015 elections, is quite suitable for the role of President of all citizens of the CAR.
This scheme worked effectively for two years. And this is in a country in which the civil war of "all against all" with periodic invasions of sworn neighbors has been a way of life for the past few decades. But in a fit of democracy, refugee Francois Bozize and his family were allowed to return to the CAR and participate in political life. And even in this case, the proposed concept of "reassembly" worked: Christians and shamanists from the "anti-Balaka" and Muslims from the "Seleka", the people of gbaya and Niger-Congo are in the same coalition.
Bozize's participation in the elections, apparently, was required precisely to demonstrate democratization. It is not known whether he or his son (and Bozize Jr. seems to be running everything now) turned to the French, who are very painfully experiencing the loss of their role in the CAR, but anything is possible.
It is the French-speaking press, including the leading Parisian media, that is actively worried about "Russian mercenaries" and almost the occupation of the CAR by Russia.
Sources believe the threat from the rebels is somewhat exaggerated, despite the occupation of the city of Mbaiki. Francophone media inflate the heat of passion simply out of jealousy. They would very much like to see parts of the CAR's armed forces trained by Russian instructors, or-even better-the Russians themselves, suffer some kind of military defeat in this country. Then you could say: here, we told you, it was not necessary to drive us, the French, away. But there is no independent evidence that anyone who speaks Russian actually took part in the clashes.
Another question is that the problem should be solved quickly. It would be strange to hold elections in a situation where a significant part of the country is not controlled by the Central government. The situation is difficult, as it is also unclear whether Bozize is ready for a peaceful solution to the crisis. In General, he had never shown a propensity for peace in his life, rather on the contrary, it was customary for him to organize coups and rebellions.
Perhaps the mistake was precisely in the wrong assessment of the personal qualities of Francois Bozize and his family members. European ideas about the negotiation process can not always be directly transferred to Central Africa. And now everything will be decided in the next couple of days.
Evgeny Krutikov
