Russian journalists killed in the Central African Republic planned to film gold mines
The Russian journalists who died in Central African Republic (CAR), on the day of the assassination were attempting to arrange the filming of the gold mine, which the company established by Yevgeny Prigozhin supposedly plans to develop, the Dozhd television channel (also known as TV Rain) reported citing information from the Investigations Management Centre (IMC) for which journalists collected information about Russian military mercenaries.
Before the murder, the journalists Orkhan Dzhemal, Alexander Rastorguyev and Kirill Radchenko went to meet the "fixer" – the UN employee based in the CAR, who was supposed to help them film the gold mines of Ndassima, said the IMC. The journalists were ambushed between the cities of Sibu and Kaga-Bandoro, away from their planned route. The IMC does not have any knowledge of why they deviated from their route.
In mid-July, the Africa Intelligence news outlet reported that Russia had allegedly made an agreement with the government of the CAR for development of the Ndassima gold mine, in return promising to restore the order in the region, writes The Bell. According to the Africa Intelligence, Lobaye Invest which is established by M-Invest company, associated with the alleged sponsor of a Russian Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), Yevgeny Prigozhin, represents Russia's interests in the country. The PMC fighters, in line with the Lobaye Invest interests, are engaged in the transportation from Bangui and the protection of mining equipment . In particular, the Lobaye Invest employees control the recently renewed diamonds mining near Berengo, wrote the newspaper.
The journalist, film director and camera operator arrived in the CAR planning to make a film about the activities of the Russian private military company (PMC), which media associates with businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin (Prigozhin himself denies the link with Wagner PMC). The official investigation version named the killing near the city of Sibu as a result of an armed robbery.