This man now rules Wagner in Africa

Masses of gold and diamonds are at stake …

A month ago, Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin (†62) was killed in a plane crash — presumably ordered by Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin.

Kremlin officials did assure heads of state in several African nations that they would take control of Wagner operations. At the same time, however, oligarchs in Moscow who have established mercenary forces are nervously shuffling their feet to pounce on Africa’s treasures.

The explosive fact is that the man who holds his hand over the empire does not have a very good relationship with Putin!

Prigozhin’s crown prince Dmitri Sytyi has seized power in Africa — and he has no intention of relinquishing his ex-boss’s empire.

At first glance, the young Russian from St. Petersburg appears to be the opposite of the muscle-bound and tattooed Wagner mercenaries. He has long hair, a lanky figure and a milky beard. Sytyi studied economics in Paris and speaks fluent Russian, English, Spanish and French.

What makes Dmitri Sytyi so unpredictable for Putin: Many of Africa’s autocrats back him.

Since Sytyi lost three fingers on his right hand in a letter bomb at the end of 2022, he has enjoyed a kind of hero status among the population of the Central African Republic, from which he runs the Wagner business. He spread the theory that France, the ex-colonial power hated in the country, was behind the letter bomb.

Curiously, groups of young men in T-shirts with Sytyi’s face keep showing up in the capital Bangui. The Wall Street Journal wrote in an article about him, “He reminds us of the revolutionary Che Guevara.”

A group of young men wears T-shirts with the face of Dmitri Sytyi

Photo: Info Ti Kodrô/Facebook

He lives like a superstar

Sytyi lives in a luxury villa that was once the president’s residence. The estate is surrounded by a military camp occupied by Wagner fighters.

His car (Toyota SUV) does not have a license plate — everyone knows him and his entourage in the city.

Sytyi goes in and out of the best restaurants and houses of ministers and regularly travels to neighboring countries like Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Niger but also to Mozambique.

Empire in Central Africa

Originally, the late Wagner boss Prigozhin hired him in 2015 for one of his troll farms, which had tried to influence the U.S. elections, among other things, with fake information on the Internet starting in 2016.

Sytyi quickly became Prigozhin’s confidant, then went to the Central African Republic as an interpreter in 2018. There, he quickly rose through the Wagner hierarchy. Soon he was running the Wagner mercenaries’ non-military operations in Africa and setting up front companies such as the mining company “Lobaye Invest,” exporting gold, diamonds, timber, minerals, and other commodities.

At the same time, he built a network of newspapers, radio and TV stations. The goal: to spread anti-Western propaganda to support the rule of dictators.

And: Sytyi is also responsible for supplying Wagner vodka and beer to Central Africans.

“Everything remains as it is”

When asked recently by a journalist from the Russian newspaper Pravda about the death of his ex-boss, Sytyi said, “I assume that everything will remain as it is and we will continue our work.”

Meanwhile, according to European intelligence, the president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera , sent this message to Moscow: he wants Sytyi and other Wagner members to stay in the country and continue helping him fight rebel groups.

Looks like Putin will have to accept Prigozhin’s crown prince — or have him removed …

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