Voluntary (but compulsory) contracts

The clash between Russia’s military command and mercenary Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has reached a new peak. The ministry issued a statement on Sunday to announce a new order made by Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu. According to the instruction, all volunteer formations fighting along with regular Russian troops are required to sign contracts with the defence agency by 1 July. The ministry believes that this development will grant the necessary legal status to the volunteers and establish “unified approaches to organising comprehensive provisions and fulfilment of tasks”.

“The order gives all volunteers the right to sign individual contracts with volunteer formations or the Defence Ministry as contracted service members,” Deputy Defence Minister Nikolay Pankov said. “The idea behind the contracts signed between citizens and the states is primarily to give them and their family members state social protections and support. These measures will help to boost military capabilities and efficiency of the armed forces and volunteer units that make a part of them.”

This was indirectly proven after Prigozhin’s press unit published an excerpt of a Shoigu-signed document allegedly received by the Wagner Group which mandates Wagner commanders to “provide the joint force headquarters with updated data on the number of personnel, ammo stocks, all materials previously transferred by the Russian Defence Ministry for use by volunteer organisations, reports on their availability, losses during combat operations, breakdowns during operations and repairs” by 15 June.

Yevgeny Prigozhin quickly responded to Shoigu’s orders in his unique style. “The orders that Shoigu gives are mandatory for the Defence Ministry staffers and service members. The Wagner Group will not sign any contracts with Shoigu. The fact that he drafts orders is only relevant for the Defence Ministry and all those in its framework,” he said. “The Wagner Group won’t sign any contracts with Shoigu. The Wagner Group is organically implemented in the general system, coordinates its actions with generals on both flanks as well as formation commanders, has a treasure trove of experience, and represents a highly-efficient structure. Unfortunately, most military units do not possess the same efficiency precisely because Shoigu cannot properly manage army detachments. Therefore, his orders are only applicable to the Defence Ministry and those that fall in its line of duty. What can happen after this order? We won’t get weapons and ammo. We will deal with it. When the going gets tough, as they say, they’ll run to us and bring weapons and ammo, pleading with us to help them.”

The Wagner Group chief also stressed that his “private military company is fully compliant with interests of Russia and the commander-in-chief” and “coordinates all its actions with Army General [Sergey] Surovikin and completes the tasks he sets out”.

‘If the minister was an honest man…’

To provide more proof that the mercenaries are, to put it mildly, not willing to sign any legal documents with the Defence Ministry, Telegram channels close to the Wagner Group published several comments made by the private military company’s commanders. Their remarks were accompanied by a statement made by Prigozhin himself: “I cannot but share opinions of Wagner Group commanders regarding Shoigu’s decision about the transfer of the Wagner Group’s independence to the Defence Ministry. That said, I can only note that if the minister was an honest man, I think everyone would be very happy to do so. However, as you can see, it is impossible in the current situation.”

Take the defence ministry’s provisions away

The Russian defence ministry has suddenly acquired a new high-rank ally: Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Chechnya. He posted a very well written and long statement on his Telegram channel, detailing his complicated relationship with Yevgeny Prigozhin.

“The call happened after another statement made by Prigozhin. I made the call,” Kadyrov notes. “We seemingly had a man-to-man talk. We reached an agreement. We particularly promised not to criticise anything or even mention Akhmat or Wagner in statements. Being the one who initiated the call, I was ready to tell the disquieted audience that the differences were settled but… Prigozhin decided to get ahead of me and announced it first, while Wagner commanders made a series of cynical remarks the very next day. No one threatened Prigozhin with a gang-style meeting, it’s not our thing. I was ready to go or fly there to speak to him in person.”

Kadyrov concluded his statement with a veiled hint that he is aware of the schemes that allow Yevgeny Prigozhin to rack up a lot of money on Defence Ministry supplies: “There are many more questions that we can raise and pose to so-called comrade-in-arms Prigozhin,” the head of Chechnya noted. “For example, who supplies food for the Russian Defence Ministry’s needs and earns a decent stable income for that? We are aware of all nuances of this process.”

Prigozhin retaliated by publishing a letter that was allegedly addressed to Shoigu on 6 June already. In the letter, Prigozhin (who also heads Concord Catering, an official supplier of food to the Defence Ministry and the Russian troops in Ukraine) asks to relieve him of his duties to provide rations to service members over the increase in the food package costs. Prigozhin stressed that he believes it is impossible for him to continue taking part in the raging squandering of budget funds.

There was no official reaction to the letter from Russia’s top brass. However, it is clear that Yevgeny Prigozhin simply cannot unilaterally end ration provisions for the ministry and its soldiers in the combat zone. All responsibilities and rights of the parties are outlined in the contracts signed with the army that allowed Concord Catering to obtain billions of rubles of funding from the state. Moreover, these issues should be addressed on a level that is higher than Shoigu.

Meanwhile, the news emerged on 12 June that Kadyrov’s Akhmat volunteer formation and staffers of the Gudermes-based Russian Special Forces University unanimously signed contracts with the Defence Ministry.

“Prigozhin will never sign a contract with Shoigu,” a mid-level Wagner Group commander tells Novaya-Europe on the condition of anonymity. “And it’s not just about the personal resentment that is publicised so much. We currently just don’t exist in legal terms. This is exactly how the command needs us to be. We are Putin’s private army, his personal guard. A real counterweight to the huge and ineffective machine of the Defence Ministry. If Shoigu continues to suffocate us, we will retreat to training grounds or back to Africa even to wait until we are called again. And judging by how things are panning out on the frontlines, it will happen very soon.”