The head of the Russian presence in the Central African Republic, Dmitri Syty, has been hospitalised after a parcel he received by mail exploded in his hands.
Have the Russians suddenly become undesirable in the Central African Republic?
After several anonymous threats to leave the country, the Russian agent Syty, received what turned out to be a parcel bomb on Friday that almost took his life.
“The incident occurred when Dmitri Syty was opening a parcel he had received, which turned out to be filled with explosives. The victim was immediately rushed to hospital, where he was given urgent medical treatment,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to the founder of the Russian private security company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on 11 November, Dmitri Syty received a package from Togo containing a photo of his son who lives in France.
It contained a note saying that he would receive his son’s head next time if ‘the Russians don’t get the hell out of the African continent and open the doors to the French.
Friday he received a new package and despite all the security warnings he had received, an upset Syty believing that his son’s head was in the package, opened it and an explosion ensued.
According to the Russian diplomatic mission in the Central African Republic, Syty’s condition appears to be serious but not life-threatening.
For Russia’s Foreign Affairs ministry, this latest attack is clearly aimed at preventing the activities of its personnel in the Central African Republic, and, more broadly, at harming the proper development of friendly relations between Moscow and Bangui.
Despite the recurring threats, the Russian Federation ”will not be intimidated by terrorists and will not close the Russian House in CAR,” said Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, quoted by the Tass agency.
ARD/te/lb/as/APA