Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters
President Vladimir Putin wants to replace Wagner commanders in the Central African Republic (CAR) loyal to Yevgeny Prigozhin after the leader of the infamous mercenary group led an insurrection at the weekend, The Daily Beast has learned.
According to a number of well-placed officials in the restive African nation, Russian government officials have informed their CAR counterparts that Wagner operations in the country would continue, but the Kremlin intends to replace the group’s leadership, meaning that Prigozhin’s allies including notorious operations leaders Dmitry Syty and Vitaly Perfilev are on the verge of being booted out.
“They’ve been phone calls today from senior Russian officials to the president assuring him that Wagner would remain in the country and that things would continue to move smoothly,” an adviser to President Faustin-Archange Touadéra told The Daily Beast privately. “But they have also mentioned that the leaders are going to be replaced.”