Wagner group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said his mercenary forces fighting in Ukraine won’t sign contracts with Russian Defense Ministry, pushing back on a new requirement aimed at formalizing the nation’s volunteer formations.
(Bloomberg) — Wagner group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said his mercenary forces fighting in Ukraine won’t sign contracts with Russian Defense Ministry, pushing back on a new requirement aimed at formalizing the nation’s volunteer formations.
Prigozhin says orders and decrees from defense minister Sergei Shoigu pertain only to ministry staff and soldiers, not his group. The ministry on Saturday ordered volunteer units to sign contracts by July 1 in what it said was an effort to provide necessary legal status and extend social protection and support measures to volunteers and their family members.
“Wagner is absolutely, completely subordinate to the interests of the Russian Federation and the Commander-in-Chief,” Prigozhin wrote Sunday on his Telegram channel. His group coordinates all its actions and performs the tasks set by General Sergey Surovikin, he added.
Russia’s defense ministry didn’t elaborate what will happen in case contracts won’t be signed.
In an escalating feud with Russia’s military, Prigozhin had previously said his troops would pull out of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region after criticizing the results of President Vladimir Putin’s war goals, accusing defense officials of leaving Russia unprotected following an incursion by attackers who crossed from Ukraine.
He also said he’s held talks on improving border defense with a group of individuals he said were from Russian regions that border Ukraine.
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