According to the Foreign Ministry, three Russians were arrested in Chad

Three Russians have been arrested in the African country of Chad, the Russian Foreign Ministry said late Monday, confirming earlier reports.

The ministry identified the arrested Russians as Maxim Shugaley, Samer Sueifan and E. Tsaryov and said it was in “close contact” with the authorities in Chad and was taking the “necessary steps in the interests of their speedy release”.

State news agency RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources, that Shugaley and Sueifan, whom it described as “sociologists,” had been detained at the airport in Chad's capital since September 19. The two were reportedly arrested without explanation.

Shugaley heads the Moscow-based NGO Foundation for the Defense of National Values, which is part of a media group that the US says is linked to the late Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Shugaley is under EU sanctions. He is accused of working as the “PR department of the Wagner Group” directly under Prigozhin's supervision and spreading “propaganda and disinformation”.

Both Shugaley and Sueifan were arrested in Libya in May 2019 and accused of rigging elections on behalf of Russia. They were released after 18 months in captivity, after which Prigozhin's company, Concord, said it would pay them nearly $500,000.

On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that in addition to the three Russian men, a Belarusian citizen had also been detained in Chad. He was identified as A. Denisevich.