Human rights advocates and politicians in Central African Republic claim soldiers who disappeared after being detained last month were kidnapped by mercenaries backed by Russia. The Kremlin has in recent years deepened ties with the gold- and diamond-rich country's military and government.
Celestin Bakoyo and Elie Ngouengue — two soldiers who led a Wagner Group- aligned militia fighting rebels in the country's southeast — were reportedly detained on Jan. 24 at a police station in the country's capital.
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