Flowers are laid at the statue of Russian mercenaries as a tribute to the late Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Bangui, Central African Republic, on March. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)
FILE - Central African Army Forces (FACA) cadets display a fake rocket launcher on Jan. 26, 2014, in Jean Bedel Bocassa's Berengo palace near Pissa, some 80kms (45 miles) south west of Bangui, Central African Republic. Ten years on, Russia is said to be helping to refurbish the site as a military base. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
An arial view of Bangui, Central African Republic, is seen on March. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)
FILE - Nigeriens, some holding Russian flags, participate in a march called by supporters of coup leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani in Niamey, Niger, on July 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
A woman prepares plantains to sell in the market in Bangui, Central African Republic, on March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Тouadera walk during their meeting on the sideline of the Russia Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, July 28, 2023. (Artyom Geodakyan/TASS Host Photo Agency Pool Photo via AP, File)