Three Russians have been detained in Chad, Russia's foreign ministry said late Monday, confirming earlier reports.
The ministry named the Russians detained as Maxim Shugaley, Samer Sueifan and E. Tsaryov, saying it had taken the "necessary steps in the interests of the swift release" of the detainees.
Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday that Shugaley and Sueifan, whom it described as "sociologists", had been held at the airport of Chad's capital since September 19, citing unnamed colleagues.
RIA Novosti said that they had been detained without explanation, after visiting Chad earlier without problems.
Wagner group link
Moscow said that a Belarusian man had also been detained, naming him as A. Denisevich.
The Russian ministry said it was in "close contact" with Chad's authorities.
Shugaley heads a Moscow-based NGO called the Foundation for the Defence of National Values, that is part of a media group the United States has linked to the late chief of Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Shugaley, 58, is under EU sanctions, listed as working directly under Prigozhin's supervision as the "public relations arm of the Wagner Group", and spreading "propaganda and disinformation".
Shugaley's most recent post on Telegram in August commemorated the one-year anniversary of Prigozhin's death in a plane crash, describing those killed as "heroes".
Libya arrest
Shugaley and Sueifan were arrested in Libya in May 2019 and accused by Libyan authorities of election meddling on behalf of Moscow.
They were freed after 18 months of captivity, in December 2020.
After their release, Prigozhin's company Concord said it would pay the pair almost $500,000.
Russia has boosted its presence in countries bordering Chad - a region that was formerly France's sphere of influence - including fighters from Wagner who are presented as military instructors.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Chad, a former French colony, in June and held talks with the president, General Mahamat Idriss Deby.
Chad's leader held talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in January, where the Kremlin chief said Moscow would "support" Chad's efforts to "stabilise the situation in the country".
Chad is one of the world's poorest countries with a population of 18 million.
It is the last country in the Sahel region to host French soldiers after withdrawals from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in recent years.
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