The head of the Russian House cultural center in Bangui, Central African Republic, has survived an assassination attempt, the Russian Embassy in the city said on December 16.
According to the embassy, Dmitry Syty was hospitalized after an explosive device detonated when he opened a parcel he received by mail. His condition is unclear.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Russia will find the individuals behind what he called "an inhuman terrorist act."
The founding leader of Russia's Vagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose troops reportedly are present in the Central African Republic, said on Telegram that France was behind the parcel without providing any evidence proving the statement.
According to Prigozhin, a letter Syty received in November included a picture of his son, who resides in France, and a warning that next time he will get his son's head in a parcel “if the Russians don’t get out of the African continent and leave the doors wide open to the French.”
"Despite all safety instructions, Dmitry Syty, being highly concerned and thinking that his son's head may be in the parcel, opened it. The explosion occurred," Prigozhin wrote, adding that doctors are now fighting for Syty's life and calling for France be designated as state sponsor of terrorism.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called Prigozhin's claims false and called them "a good example of Russian propaganda and the fanciful imagination that sometimes characterizes it," according to AFP.
Investigative journalists and UN experts have said Prigozhin’s Vagner mercenary group have guarded the Central African Republic’s gold and diamond mines for years, helping President Faustin-Archange Touadera stay in power amid the ongoing civil war that started in 2013.
Last month, the European Parliament recognized Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism," accusing its forces of carrying out atrocities against civilians during its ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.