Chairman Wagner: We reject the attempts of the Russian Ministry of Defense to subjugate us

The head of the Russian private military Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said today, Sunday, that his fighters will not sign any contract with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, publicly rejecting the Ministry of Defense’s attempt to subject the most powerful Russian company in this field to the ministry’s control.

The founder and president of Wagner launched a scathing attack several times against the senior leaders of the Russian army because of what he described as treason for their failure to properly manage the war in Ukraine.

Neither Shoigu nor Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov commented publicly on what Prigozhin said, whose forces succeeded last May in controlling the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after a battle that lasted for many months and claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that Shoigu had ordered all “volunteer units” to sign contracts with his ministry by the end of the month, a move it said would increase the effectiveness of the Russian military.

subjugation attempt

Although the ministry did not mention Wagner in its statement, Russian media reported that this was an attempt by Shoigu to bring the fighters under his control.

“Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu,” Prigozhin said in response to a request for comment, adding that the decision did not apply to his company.

The Defense Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Prigozhin and his fighters became famous for what the United States said was destabilizing countries in Africa, plundering natural resources, and even interfering in the 2016 US presidential elections.

Prigozhin responded by saying that the United States had destabilized many countries in the world, and that Washington had no moral authority to preach to anyone.