Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin explained the supply of Russian armored vehicles to the Central African Republic (CAR) in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
As Fomin said, the equipment was delivered to the African country for the needs of the security forces, as well as for use in the framework of the reform of this sector. According to him, armored reconnaissance and patrol vehicles BRDM-2 were delivered in November this year. How many units of equipment were sent to the CAR, he did not specify.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that an additional 300 military instructors were sent to the Central African Republic. They will train servicemen of the republic's national army.
On December 21, CAR government spokesman Anj Maxim Kazagi announced that Russia had transferred several hundred troops and heavy weapons to the country. Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied information about the transfer of soldiers. Russian Ambassador to the CAR, Vladimir Titorenko, said that of the Russian military, only five employees of the Russian Ministry of Defense, 14 officers in the UN peacekeeping mission – MINURCA and instructors who train the army are in the country.
At the same time, information appeared that fighters from one of the Russian private military companies began to work in the CAR – they were noticed 130 kilometers north-west of the republic's capital, Bangui, along with mercenaries from Rwanda and representatives of the CAR Armed Forces (FACA).
The revival of the insurgency in the CAR is caused by the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for December 27. It was clarified that three armed rebel groups have united in the anti-government “Coalition of Patriots for Change” in order to prevent President Faustin-Archange Touadera from being re-elected for a second term. The former president of the country, François Bozizet, is considered the leader of the militants. The government accuses him of attempting a coup. It was noted that the members of the coalition intend to cut the main supply routes to the capital of the CAR and block it.
