Filmmaker Alexander Rastorguev, cameraman Kirill Radchenko and reporter Orhan Dzhemal were shooting a documentary about Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic when they were killed.
Their bodies were found outside the city of Sibut, according to the Russian foreign ministry.
Director Rastorguev, who was known for documentaries that were openly critical of Russian president Vladimir Putin's regime, was making a documentary about the Russian military firm Wagner, for the investigative journalism organization The Center for Investigation. The Center is a news organization funded by exiled oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a vocal Putin critic.
The Wagner group is an organization of private military contractors who are believed to have carried out clandestine military operations in Syria and East Ukraine, as ordered by the Kremlin, although Russian authorities deny it.
Reuters quoted Sibut's mayor, Henri Depele, as saying the three Russians were surrounded by armed men who opened fire on their vehicle. Some reports are suggesting may have been a robbery attempt, but because there was a driver who survived the attack -- and who was able to tell authorities what happened -- it seems more likely that this was a targeted killing.
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