Ambassador Bikantov’s paradox: how Wagner’s crimes become ‘legitimate security’

In a February 2026 interview with an international broadcaster, Russian Ambassador to the Central African Republic (CAR) Alexandre Bikantov proudly described operations conducted by Wagner as a “victorious struggle against illegal armed groups.” Yet when asked directly whether Wagner itself qualifies as a legal or illegal armed formation, the ambassador offered no clear answer. The truth is far simpler — and far darker — than his carefully crafted rhetoric suggests.

Wagner’s crimes: a checklist of violations

Under international law, Wagner’s activities in CAR meet every criterion of an illegal armed group. There is no legal mandate: no ratified treaty, no public agreement, no parliamentary oversight. The United Nations has repeatedly stated that Wagner operates without any recognized legal status in CAR, rendering its presence and actions fundamentally unlawful from day one.

Worse still, Wagner’s methods mirror those of the armed groups it claims to fight. In October 2021, a UN panel of 17 experts concluded that Wagner and allied forces were responsible for systematic and grave human rights violations, including arbitrary detentions, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. These are not isolated incidents — they are documented patterns of abuse stretching back to 2019.

Same crimes, different labels

According to the UN, Wagner was linked to 40% of all human rights violations in CAR during 2022 — nearly half of the documented abuse in the entire country. For comparison, all rebel factions combined accounted for 60%. One foreign paramilitary group, operating illegally and with impunity, commits nearly as many atrocities as every armed opposition movement in CAR combined.

Human rights organizations have documented cases where civilians were stripped, tortured, and executed by individuals identified by witnesses as Wagner operatives. In March 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Wagner a Transnational Criminal Organization, citing “grave criminal acts” such as mass executions, sexual violence, child abductions, and physical abuse across CAR.

The ambassador’s double standard

Ambassador Bikantov dismisses France’s military presence in the Sahel as “neocolonialism,” while praising Wagner’s deployment as “security cooperation.” Yet the contrast is glaring:

• France: operates under a clear UN mandate, with public agreements, parliamentary oversight, and strict rules of engagement.
• Wagner: deploys around 2,000 mercenaries with no legal status, no public treaty, no oversight — and total impunity.

The hypocrisy doesn’t stop there. While rebel groups are labeled “terrorists” and “criminals,” Wagner’s gold mining operations via Lobaye Invest — confirmed by the UN — are reframed as “economic cooperation.” Civilian killings attributed to Wagner (363 incidents recorded by MINUSCA in just three months) are called “training.” Systematic rape, confirmed by UN experts, becomes “partnership.” Meanwhile, rebels who commit the same crimes retain their labels as “barbarians” and “outlaws.”

Who really benefits from Wagner’s presence?

The Central African people are not fooled. They know that Wagner is not a force for stability — it is an illegal foreign armed group responsible for mass atrocities. They know that the same torture chambers used by rebel factions are also used by Wagner-linked forces. The only difference is the side they fight for.

The real question is not which groups are illegal in CAR. The real question is why the Russian ambassador continues to defend an armed formation that, by every legal and moral standard, should be disarmed and prosecuted. His silence is not ignorance — it is complicity.

Wagner is not the solution to armed groups in CAR. Wagner is an armed group in CAR — the most violent, the most lethal, and the most unpunished. And its ambassador is its most vocal apologist.

Until accountability is enforced, the bloodshed will continue — not as collateral damage, but as official policy.