In the Central African Republic, a certain man named Dmitrij Szijti is getting more and more attention recently. The 34-year-old Russian became the center of attention in the country when Yevgeny Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances less than a month ago.
From then on, he became the leader of the Wagner mercenary group in the African country, which represents a multi-billion dollar business.
Szijti lives in the capital, in the former presidential residence, surrounded by Wagner’s mercenaries. According to reports, a western-educated multilingual “businessman” could be the key to overseeing and managing mercenaries’ local activities. THE Wall Street Journal according to his portrait, he has been managing the network of front companies and propaganda organizations belonging to the organization for at least half a decade. Szijti was also added to the sanctions list of the Western states, but apparently it is not particularly interested. Although the new leader did not previously have direct relations with the Russian leadership, after the death of Prigozhin, the Central African president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, indicated to Moscow that he would like the mercenaries to remain in the country under the leadership of Szijti.
After Prigozhin’s death, Dmitry Sytii, a business graduate, works to protect Wagner’s multi-billion-dollar African operations. @WSJ
— BRİF (@brifmedya) September 22, 2023
According to the accounts, the organization’s new savior was one of the first to arrive in the Central African Republic, back in 2017, and then quickly set about building a wide network of companies for the economic exploitation of the area. In addition to obtaining mining concessions, he strengthened his position in the country by selling beer and establishing local media.
WHILE BUILDING HIS EMPIRE, HE BUILT CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE LOCAL LEADERS WHO ACCEPTED SIJTI INTO THEIR TRUST. HE DIDN’T SEE IT AS A MILITARY DUTIES OF THE MERCENARIES, BUT HE HELPED IN ORGANIZING THE ECONOMIC BACKCOUNTRY.
The man was previously attacked with a letter bomb, which caused him serious injuries. According to Prigozsin, the French, who had been pushed out of the region, were behind it. This was denied by Paris. After Wagner began to appear in an increasingly negative light in Moscow, Szijti pledged allegiance to the mercenary group and worked to hide the mercenary-related activities as much as possible. After the death of his boss, he worked to keep Wagner’s African empire, but it is not yet known what exactly will be its fate.
The cover image is an illustration. Cover image credit: Siegfried Modola/Getty Images
