This is part 2 of a 2-part investigation series
On 14 May, several thousand people gathered at Bangui’s Barthélémy-Boganda stadium. They did not come to watch a Fauves match but rather to attend the preview of a rather special film titled Touriste. This Russian-Central African feature film, which was shot in the CAR, traces – and glorifies – the actions of Russian ‘instructors’ who supported the regime of Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who was re-elected in December 2020, and defeated rebels allied to former president François Bozizé.
It is a sort of Hollywood blockbuster with a Moscow twist: it features war scenes where a few Russians stand up to dozens of rebels – Kalashnikovs going off in all directions – and a wounded hero emerges from combat feeling that he has accomplished his mission. This film propagandises Russian mercenaries on the banks of the Ubangi – without addressing the
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