PRETORIA, August 25. /TASS/. The Central African Republic will continue military cooperation with Russia despite the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), presidential adviser Fidele Gouandjika said.
"[Prigozhin's death] is sad news, he saved democracy, so the country is in mourning. But for us, in terms of cooperation with Russia, this changes absolutely nothing," the Financial Times quoted him as saying. According to Gouandjika, the country will continue to cooperate with Russia "thanks to the agreement with the Kremlin."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out that the issue of the presence of the Wagner PMC in the Central African Republic and several other African countries is regulated by an agreement "concluded directly between the respective governments and the Wagner PMC." Lavrov recalled that several hundred instructors of the Russian Defense Ministry have been working in the Central African Republic for a long time. He also noted that the country’s president and the government highly appreciate their work.
An Embraer business jet flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed on August 23 in Russia’s Tver Region. According to preliminary data, there were ten people on board, all of whom died. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said that businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as one of the passengers. A criminal case has been opened over the crash on the grounds of violation of safety regulations for the movement and operation of air transport.