PUTIN’S SHADOW ON AFRICA – THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC MODEL

On August 23rd, 2023, the leader of the Russian Wagner paramilitary group Evgenij Prigožin died in mysterious circumstances in a plane crash. Despite this, a few months after his death, members of the world's most renowned mercenary group continue their operations in several African conflicts, spanning from Mali to the Central African Republic, from Libya to Sudan.

Wagner has been in the Central African Republic since 2018 to protect the besieged president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra. While most of the population welcomes this presence, a report from an independent investigative body denounces the violence and brutality of the Wagner group mercenaries, accused of summary executions, robberies, looting, and violence against women. Yet the responsibility of these crimes against humanity has not been clearly established. With the prestigious contribution of former Wagner commander Marat Gabidullin, that of French political analist Emmanuel Dupuy and CAR president’s counsellor, the documentary explores the puzzled reality in Central African Republic, a paradigm for Russian expansion into Africa, which once again has become a land of conquest. Unlike in the past, however, the gradual Russian expansion on the continent is influencing global geopolitical relations. Africa, with all its contradictions, is a candidate to become the crucial continent for the future of international economic and political balances.