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In April 2022, it was estimated that up to 2,000 Wagner fighters were in CAR, although Russia maintained it was a lower number of ‘instructors’.153</ref>Q6 [Sorcha MacLeod</ref> The departure of French stabilisation troops in late 2022 means that the CAR government is now more dependent on the Wagner Network for maintaining security.154^[1]

The Wagner Network has protected President Touadéra against rebel forces, in addition to securing key economic locations such as Lobaye and Haute-Kotto (sites of exploration and mining).^[2] Wagner operatives have also trained the national armed forces (FACA).^[3] The network has significant political influence in CAR and a key Wagner representative, Valery Zakharov, served as the President’s security advisor in Wagner’s first three years in the country.^[4]

The investigative and policy NGO The Sentry has said that the Network is primarily financed and operated via security and mining activities, which are carried out via three CAR-registered companies,^[5] which “operate in total opacity”.^[6] One of these, Midas Resources, has facilities in the gold mine of Ndassima in central CAR, to which Wagner operatives have prevented access by Central African mining authorities.^[7] US cables and internal documents from the Wagner Network suggested that it had at least 13 bases in the country in 2021, and revealed US concern over Wagner’s dramatic expansion of the production area of Ndassima mine in the nine-month run-up to February 2023. US officials estimate that this mine could, in the long term, “produce rewards upward of $1 billion”.^[8]

The Sentry has shown “how Wagner’s top command structure has diverted political and security processes sponsored by international donors (e.g., elections, peace agreements, disarmament programs, and UN-backed operations) to serve Russia’s geostrategic objectives and the financial interests of the organization.”^[9] Propaganda is key to how Wagner seeks to expand. For example, Prigozhin reportedly sponsored

the film ‘Tourist’ (May 2021), which glorifies Wagner mercenaries in CAR.^[10]

24. The African Union has long sought to eliminate the “scourge” of mercenarism within the continent of Africa of the type exemplified by the Wagner Network.^[11]However, despite this multilateral commitment, there is a lack of will from some individual member states to reverse the proliferation of Wagner activities across the continent of Africa.

25. There is a significant gap between perception and capability when it comes to the Wagner Network. Despite the continued belief by some that inviting them into a country will result in benefits, the reality is that regimes pay a high price for working with the Wagner Network. The original outcomes are rarely achieved. During the past 10 years, Wagner fighters have left behind a trail of atrocities in virtually all theatres where they have operated, with limited accountability. They may present themselves as a highly trained, professional fighting force but their indiscipline, their excessive violence and their financial motivation mean that the network has functioned like an

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1. Inside the stunning growth of Russia’s Wagner Group, POLITICO, 18 February 2023
2. Dossier Center (WGN0009) para 32
3. Dossier Center (WGN0009) para 15
4. The Sentry (WGN0017) para 14
5. Sewa Security Services, Lobaye invest, and Midas Resources. These are all under sanction by the United States, the first two are under sanction by the European Union and none are under sanction by the United Kingdom, as of 7 July 2023.
6. The Sentry (WGN0017) para 21
7. The Sentry (WGN0017) para 21
8. Inside the stunning growth of Russia’s Wagner Group, POLITICO, 18 February 2023
9. The Sentry (WGN0017) para 14
10. The Sentry (WGN0017) para 25
11. OAU CONVENTION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF MERCENARISM IN AFRICA, CM/817 (XXIX), Annex II Rev.