Moscow blames robbers for CAR killings of journalists

Three Russian journalists who were killed in the Central Africa Republic last week were attacked as they resisted robbers, the Russian Foreign Ministry has claimed. A report on the News24 site notes that Orkhan Dzhemal, Alexander Rastorguyev and Kirill Radchenko were 'attacked by unidentified people with the aim of robbery and were killed while attempting to resist’ on 30 July. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said this is based on initial findings of the investigation in CAR. The journalists were in the war-torn country to shoot footage of a shadowy Russian mercenary group called Wagner whose soldiers have fought in conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. Zakharova said Russian soldiers are only working to train CAR troops and are not taking part in combat themselves.