MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Russian military experts have trained more than 900 officers and troops of the Central African Republic (CAR), Alexander Ivanov, the director of the Officers Union for International Security (OUIS), told TASS.
"In 2024, thanks to the efforts of Russian military experts, over 900 soldiers and officers were trained for the Central African army. And this doesn’t even include graduates from the standard training programs for gendarmes, police officers, and former militants who laid down their arms and chose to join the Central African Armed Forces," he said.
He remarked that the organization has significantly expanded the scale of training for CAR military personnel in 2024. "In addition to combat and physical training, Russian trainers extended the program to cover tactical coordination of soldiers and officers in both small teams and as part of larger units," the military official stated.
He noted that the disarmament of illegal armed groups, active in the African country, has allowed for an improvement in CAR military equipment. "The trophy equipment regularly seized from militants, including modern Western weaponry, has significantly enriched the arsenal available to the soldiers of the CAR armed forces," the OUIS director highlighted.
According to him, the rate of training has increased. "The successes of the Central African army, supported by Russian trainers, enhance the prestige of military service, which leads to even more people seeking to join the Central African Armed Forces," Ivanov stated.
On January 15, CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera arrived in Russia for an official visit. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, where the two leaders discussed security cooperation.