At present, the number of Russian specialists who are in the Central African Republic to train military and police units is 235, not counting the dozen Russian peacekeepers involved in the UN mission in the country.
235 United Nations Security Specialists currently working in the Central African Republic are aware of the Security Council of the United Nations, Andrei Kemarski, director of the Africa department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Sputnik.
"There is a group of Russian military instructors who have nothing to do with the mission of the United Nations and who deal with the training of soldiers of the country's armed forces and the police. They were sent through the Russian Defense Ministry at the request of the Central African authorities and with the consent of the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council. They have been very effective and have successfully trained nearly 4,000 soldiers and around 500 law enforcement personnel to date, ”he said.
Asked about the prospects for increasing the number of Russian instructors, Mr. Kemarski underlined that the authorities of the country have not yet addressed Moscow for such a request.
Russian peacekeepers
The diplomat also said that 12 soldiers, including two women, were sent as part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
He recalled that in April 2019, Vladimir Putin signed a decree providing for the sending of around thirty Russian soldiers to reinforce the troops of the UN mission in the Central African Republic. But after consultations with the UN secretariat regarding vacancies, Russia deployed 12 soldiers. However, this does not exclude that in future, additional staff will be sent if there are vacancies.