The leaders of African countries will have to decide for themselves whether they want to continue working with the Russian mercenary organization Wagner, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced today.

At the same time, the Kremlin announced that Russian advisers will continue to work with CAR forces; but the business of the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner in this country is another matter, it is Wagner’s business affairs.

Hundreds of Russians, among them many mercenaries from the Wagner group, have been helping the government of the Central African Republic to quell insurgencies since 2018, but Wagner’s future is uncertain after the foiled rebellion in Russia on Saturday.

Wagner fighters advanced on Moscow on Saturday, challenging President Vladimir Putin and demanding the resignation of top military leaders, before a deal was struck with the Kremlin under which Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was granted asylum in Belarus.

At the same time, US government he announced a series of new sanctions in relation to the Wagner company in Africa.

The State Department announced that it had sanctioned several organizations in the Central African Republic for their links to Wagner. “The United States is imposing sanctions on several entities in the Central African Republic today for their links to the Wagner transnational criminal organization and their involvement in activities that undermine democratic processes and institutions in that country through the illicit trade of its natural resources,” says announcement.

In addition, a Russian citizen who worked as a senior Wagner executive in Mali, West Africa, has been included in the sanctions list. “Wherever Wagner worked, there was death and destruction,” the US government said.

The US Treasury Department said Wagner had committed “extensive human rights abuses and misappropriated natural resources” in several countries in Africa. “An authorized military force of the Kremlin, the Wagner organization has carried out military operations around the world, including Russia’s inhumane war in Ukraine,” the statement said. “Any assets of those sanctioned in the US will be frozen and business activities with them will be prohibited for US citizens.

Washington labeled Wagner a “deep transnational criminal organization” in January