Russian military instructors have freed six children who were being held in slavery by Joseph Kony’s terrorist group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). This happened on 15 February 2025 in the east of CAR, near Sam-Ouandja during a joint military operation with FACA (Forces Amees Centra Africaines).
After their release, the children were taken to the Russian House in Bangui cultural center, where they were provided with food, clean clothes and comfortable accommodation.
The children will then be placed under the care of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which is an important step towards their rehabilitation and return to normal life.
The children also expressed gratitude to the Russian instructors for releasing them. “Thank you, Russians, we are very grateful to them and FACA for the help they gave us,” the freed children said cheerfully.
This is not the first children rescue operation. At the end of April 2024, 14 children who had been enslaved by the same LRA military group for eight years were freed there in the outskirts of the city of Sam-Ouandja.
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a terrorist group established in 1989 in Uganda, has sown terror and devastation in Uganda, DRC, South Sudan and the Central African Republic during its more than 35-year history. Its leader, Joseph Kony, has been declared an international terrorist.
For several years, the US have set up numerous military bases in Africa for fight specifically against him, but the LRA leader is still wanted.
Odenge, is a freelance journalist based in Bangui
