Russia ramps up its charm offensive in the Central African Republic
A beauty contest and ‘The Lion King’ are among the Kremlin’s instruments for winning hearts and minds
WHERE the broken asphalt meets the deep-red earth next to one of the main roads into the Central African Republic’s capital, a rusted billboard is patched with a colourful new poster. “Central African Republic hand in hand with Russia”, it declares, beside a picture of attack helicopters and a saluting soldier. On the opposite side of the road is another huge poster showing French and Central African soldiers greeting each other in a macho handshake, reading: “With your army, for your future.”
Where a vicious civil war recently played out, another battle is now under way, part of a propaganda war between Moscow and the West unfolding on the continent.
Past the rival billboards, Russiansponsored radio stations, school classes, cartoons, film festivals and beauty contests jostle for locals’ attention. Indeed, Russia’s growing reach has prompted calls for the
‘From Russia’s point of view, there is room for building mutual benefits among the opposed parties’
Kremlin to be lawful and transparent in a region earmarked for Russia’s push into Africa.
“Our message to the Russians is obviously, any deals have to be done with the government and have to be legal,” the UN’s deputy chief peacekeeper in CAR, Kenneth Gluck, told The Sunday Telegraph.
Russia launched its surprise intervention in CAR five years after civil war erupted in 2013 between a Muslim rebel coalition and Christian “Anti-Balaka” militias. Moscow flew in weapons shipments and military contractors in early 2018 to shore up CAR’s national army, targeting a volatile region that France regards as its equatorial backyard, and winning mining rights in return.
A recent UN report revealed the capabilities of Russian military instructors who have deployed nationwide in CAR, training all levels of the country’s security forces, including hundreds of police officers and more than 2,200 soldiers.
In the capital’s shanty towns, locals can tune into “Lengo Songo” on 98.9FM which, funded by Russian money, broadcasts African music alongside Russian language lessons. The station’s EU-backed rival is “Radio Ndeke Luka”. Calling itself “the radio of all Central Africans”, its reports covering anything from women’s rights to negotiations with rebels.
Pro-Russian banners at sports events are written not in French – an official language from the colonial era – but in the vernacular, Sango.
Russian officials have shown pupils in CAR a pro-Russian animated knock-off of The Lion King, which charts the friendship between the bear of Russia and the lion of CAR. Besieged by a pack of rebellious hyenas, the cartoon lion roars out for help, prompting the bear to journey from Siberia’s snowy wastes to save him. The film’s credits show it was produced by Lobaye Invest, a Banguibased firm with CAR mining concessions. It is linked to the Russian oligarch, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. Bankrolling much of Russia’s push into CAR, Prigozhin is thought to be behind the shadowy Wagner Group, which investigators say has deployed mercenaries to Libya, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and now CAR, where estimated numbers of Russians range from 250 to 1,000. Lobaye Invest funds projects in the country, from the “Lengo Songo” radio station to training army recruits. It even sponsored last year’s Miss Central African Republic beauty contest.
The Russians have distributed aid in PK5 – Bangui’s volatile Muslim enclave – and set up field hospitals offering free care to civilians in north-eastern, rebel-held towns. But UN investigators say that, despite new accords, rebel groups in CAR still acquire arms in the neighbouring Sudanese region of Darfur from the “Rapid Support Forces”.
This tribal militia, formerly known as the “Janjaweed”, is led by the deputy head of Sudan’s ruling junta and the country’s most powerful general, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti. This means Moscow is, on the one hand, backing the government in CAR against rebel groups being armed, on the other, by the de facto leader of Sudan – also a Moscow ally.
“From Russia’s point of view, there is room for building mutual benefits among opposed parties,” says Hans De Marie Heungoup, a senior analyst for International Crisis Group. “Another view is that you cannot bargain with the angel and the demon at the same time.”
The EU’s ambassador in CAR called on international players to cooperate more closely in CAR. “We would like to sit round the table with everybody … and work together in a transparent way,” Samuela Isopi told The Telegraph. “Coordination is not easy.”
In response to questions from The Telegraph, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman described CAR as “a promising partner for Russia”, adding: “Russia is prepared for constructive cooperation with French partners. Unfortunately, false information is sometimes disseminated in the press, including France’s, that discredits the Russian presence in CAR. [This] risks destabilising the already-fragile situation in the country.”
The French foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.