Chad releases three Russians detained for two months

Three Russians arrested upon their arrival in N'Djamena in mid-September, including one known for his links with the late boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Evgueni Prigojine, were released ces recent days, the Russian embassy announced on its Facebook page.

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Their “imminent” release was officially announced at the end of September, but they had since remained “without explanation” stuck at the airport. of the capital where they were arrested on September 19 when they got off the plane at the same time as a Belarusian, according to the African Initiatives website, a press agency run by and former member of the Russian security services.

Returned by commercial flight

The message posted Saturday on the Facebook page of the Russian embassy in Chad specifies that the three Russians have “returned has Moscow by a commercial flight. Among them is Maksim Shugaley, 57, presented as a “sociologist” but under European sanctions for his links with the Wagner group which deployed of the mercenaries in several African countries.

He was detained with two other Russians, Samir Seïfan (born in 1982), EI Tsarev (born in 1997), and with the Belarusian A. Dzenisevich (born in 1982), according to the Russian embassy in Chad, which specifies that the last one was also released.

The arrests in Chad came as a surprise as Moscow and N'Djamena moved closer in recent times month with in particular a military cooperation agreement, Russia taking advantage of the weakened position of France, a former colonial power, forced to resize its presence in the Sahel and more widely on the African continent. Chad is the last country in the Sahel to host French bases, and like Ivory Coast and Gabon, is not calling for their closure.

Between Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Niger, the country is now surrounded by countries welcoming, in various capacities, Russian paramilitary forces resulting from the reorganization of the groupe Wagner.

(With AFP)