Head of Russian House in CAR to be discharged from hospital

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Dec 2022 22:41
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The Russian embassy told sources that Dmitry Sytyi, who survived an assassination attempt on Friday, is currently in a serious but stable condition, with medical personnel working to restore his health.

Head of Russian House in CAR survives assassination attempt

The Russian Embassy told reporters on Saturday that the head of the Russian House in the Central African Republic (CAR), Dmitry Sytyi, is soon to be discharged from the hospital after he survived an assassination attempt on Friday.

"I think that the discharge can be expected soon, because he is conscious and got in touch today," a source in the embassy said with no further details.

Earlier today, the embassy said that Sytyi was in a serious but stable condition, with medical personnel working to restore his health.

"According to the assessment of CAR doctors, the condition of the general director of the Russian House, D.S. Sytyi, who was injured in the attack on December 16, remains stable and serious. Specialists are still fighting for his life. Doctors are facing the difficult task of restoring the health of the Russian citizen," the statement read.

Yesterday, the press attache of the Russian Embassy, Vladislav Ilin, confirmed to Sputnik that an assassination attempt against the general director of the Russian House in the Central African Republic (CAR), Dmitry Sytyi, has left Sytyi hospitalized in Bangui.

The country's police chief Bienvenu Zokoue shortly told Sputnik after the incident that the police of the Central African Republic (CAR) consider that the assassination attempt on the head of the Russian House in the CAR Dmitry Sytyi to be a terrorist attack.

Sytyi reportedly received a parcel bomb on Friday which exploded as he opened it.

"It seems that he started going through mail at the table, opened a parcel, began pulling what was in it, and the explosion occurred," CAR's police said.

The police gave Sputnik photos from the blast site that showed there was a note at the crime scene with threats in French.

Sytyi received threats prior to the attack, according to the police.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow anticipates that those responsible for the attempted murder of Dmitry Sytyii, the head of the Russian House in the Central African Republic (CAR), will be identified and punished.

"We strongly condemn this criminal action, which clearly aims to hinder the activities of the 'Russian House' in Bangui, and more broadly, to harm the successful development of friendly relations between our two countries. We hope that as a result of a prompt investigation by the competent authorities of the CAR, those responsible for organizing and committing this atrocity will be determined and will be punished," the statement said.

France could be behind it: COIS

Considering that he had previously received threats, the Central African Republic police regarded the attack as a terrorist act, and the Commonwealth of Officers for International Security (COIS) alongside the Central African Armed Forces training services (FACA), and CAR police, decried the attack and called the perpetrators “real terrorists.”

In a separate but related incident, the government of the Central African Republic announced, on November 28, that "a plane coming from a neighboring country bombed at night a camp containing Russian soldiers and allies in the north and left, causing only damage."

“The enemies of peace in the Central African Republic have shown their true colors. They act like real terrorists, targeting the Russian humanitarian mission,” the COIS told Sputnik. “The friendly ties between Russia and the Central African Republic and the growing cooperation between the two countries are the point of frustration for some world powers who could be responsible for the attack on Dimitry Sytyi.”

The COIS suggested that “a French military contingent could be behind this terrorist attack,” since the attack came a day after the announcement from France that the final 47 French soldiers left the CAR.

“[The] Russian House in Bangui is a cultural and educational place that organizes various humanitarian events for residents of the Central African Republic and acts as a platform for Central Africans to familiarize themselves with Russian culture,” the COIS noted.

France has been expressing concern with Russia's growing influence in Africa, as Paris considers the continent to be its sphere of influence, the chairman of the African Energy Chamber, NJ Ayuk, told Sputnik.

There are many countries that are interested in cooperating with Africa, which raises concerns in Paris because the continent is considered to be France's "property," Ayuk said, adding that the main concerns are caused by the situation in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, and Mali.