The Russian government has revealed why three Russian journalists were killed in the Central African Republic this week.
The Foreign Ministry said on Friday a preliminary investigation showed that the reporters were killed by assailants who wanted to rob them.
Spokeswoman for the ministry, Maria Zakharova said at a briefing in Moscow on Friday that the journalists tried to resist their attackers when they were killed.
The journalists were killed on Monday in an ambush in the Central African Republic (CAR). Their bodies were found on a road near the central town of Sibut.
The mayor of Sibut told AFP that the three were killed but their driver survived the attack.
The journalists were reportedly working on a documentary about the Russian mercenary group, Wagner.
Wagner is a group apparently active in the Central African Republic. The group has some 2,500 fighters and is also active in Syria.
The three journalists
- Kirill Radchenko, 33, was a promising cameraman who had worked in Chechnya and more recently in Syria with the Anna news agency
- Alexander Rastorguyev, 47, was well known for his work documenting the conflict in eastern Ukraine and particularly for his internet documentaries on Russia’s opposition protests in 2011-12
- Orkhan Dzhemal, 51, had covered conflicts in Libya, Syria, eastern Ukraine and South Ossetia, working for Novaya Gazeta, Izvestia, Kommersant and TV channel Dozhd. Known as a fearless and calm war correspondent, colleagues remember him filing a report from a cemetery during the height of a battle in Ukraine
(Details of the journalists: Credit: BBC)
Russia with the backing of the UN is expected to provide some level of training for CAR army this year.
CAR is reeling under violence with clashes occasionally taking place between Christian militia groups and Muslim rebels.
The conflict has displaced millions and created a population in need of humanitarian support.
Source: Africafeeds.com
