A group of Russians picked up by police in an area of Chad where the military has recently been battling rebels say they were visiting “rich natural sites” in the country’s north.
A group of Russians detained by police in northern Chad have said they were tourists on a sightseeing trip.
They were picked up last week in a part of the north-central African country where the army battled rebels in April and May – in a conflict that led to the death of President Idriss Deby.
A police spokesperson said they had not broken any laws and were evacuated to Chad’s capital N’Djamena for their own safety.
One of the Russians, Alexey Kamerzanov, acknowledged on Wednesday (June 23) that world travellers do not normally visit Chad.
“…but I checked and saw the Chad Republic is very rich with natural sites, for example the Ennedi plateau, Tibesti plateau, the Lakes of Ounianga, the Sahara desert. For us travellers it’s formidable and interesting.”
Russia’s presence in Africa has been the subject of speculation in recent months. The country deployed security contractors to Chad’s neighbor Central African Republic in 2018.
Analysts said that was part of a strategy to rival Western militaries deployed on the continent.
Three Russians on that military mission were killed during an incident in May in which CAR and Chad troops clashed art a border post.
In Libya, Russian mercenaries support eastern commander Khalifa Hafat’s Libyan National Army, a U.N. panel of experts has reported.
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