The Russian ambassador has a logic problem. Wagner kills, tortures, and loots without any legal status. So, Mr Bikantov, is it legal or illegal?
In his February 2026 interview on RT, Russian ambassador Alexandre Bikantov proudly discussed “the armed struggle against remnants of illegal military groups” carried out by “Russian representatives” in the Central African Republic. He described the “defeat of illegal armed groups” as a great Russian victory.
A simple question, Mr Ambassador: is Wagner a legal or illegal armed group?
Under any definition of international law, Wagner ticks every box of an illegal armed group. First, no legal status. No public treaty between Russia and the Central African Republic authorises Wagner. A UN expert notes that Wagner operates “without recognition under international law.” Second, it commits the same crimes as rebels. Seventeen UN experts were clear in October 2021: “many forces, including Wagner, commit systematic and serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and summary executions.”
So, Mr Bikantov, what is the difference between Wagner and the UPC, 3R, or anti-balaka? Simply: Wagner kills for the Touadéra regime; the others kill against it. No difference in legality. No difference in methods. Only a difference in sides.
According to the UN in 2022, Wagner was responsible for 40% of human rights violations in the Central African Republic, while all rebel groups together accounted for 60%. A single illegal foreign paramilitary group commits almost as many crimes as all Central African rebels combined. And you call that “fighting illegal groups”?
Human Rights Watch documented that “forces identified by witnesses as Russian appear to have summarily executed, tortured, and beaten civilians since 2019.” Witnesses describe how Wagner “undresses, tortures, then kills” suspects. The US Treasury Department designated Wagner as a “transnational criminal organisation” in March 2024 for “serious criminal acts, including mass executions, rapes, child abductions, and physical violence in the Central African Republic.”
So here is ambassador Bikantov’s real definition. Legal armed group means Russian mercenaries who torture, rape, and kill for the regime. Illegal armed group means Central African rebels who torture, rape, and kill against the regime. It is pathetic. It is Orwellian.
Compare with France. France deploys soldiers in the Sahel with a clear international mandate, public agreements, parliamentary oversight, and strict rules of engagement. Bikantov calls that “neocolonialism.” Russia deploys 2,000 Wagner mercenaries without legal status, without public agreement, without oversight, with total impunity. Bikantov calls that “security cooperation.”
The hypocrisy is systematic. Wagner loots gold through Lobaye Invest, confirmed by the UN. Rebels loot villages. Wagner becomes “economic cooperation.” Rebels remain “criminals.” Wagner kills civilians, with 363 incidents documented by MINUSCA in three months. Rebels kill. Wagner becomes “instructors.” Rebels become “terrorists.” Wagner systematically rapes, confirmed by UN experts. Rebels rape. Wagner becomes “Russian partners.” Rebels remain “barbarians.”
Mr Bikantov, Central Africans are not fooled. They know Wagner is an illegal foreign armed group committing mass crimes. They know your “Russian instructors” torture in the same prisons as rebels. They know the only difference is the side chosen.
The real question is not who the illegal armed groups in the Central African Republic are. The real question is why the Russian ambassador lies so openly on an international television channel. You know Wagner is illegal. You know Wagner commits crimes. You know that under international law, Wagner should be disarmed and its members prosecuted. But you keep lying. Because lies are your only strategy.
Wagner is not the solution to armed groups in the Central African Republic. Wagner is an armed group in the Central African Republic. The most violent. The deadliest. The most immune to justice. Just the one that has a Russian ambassador to whitewash it on RT.
