Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of PMC Wagner, has stated that neither he nor his mercenaries will sign any contracts with the Russian Defence Ministry. Vladimir Putin said yesterday all PMCs need to do so.
“When Homeland was in trouble and needed PMC Wagner’s help, the Russian president promised us we’ll have all the social protection available,” Prigozhin says.
“I am ready to provide for the PMC Wagner fighters, but I might be here today, and tomorrow I may be gone. And therefore, of course, the state should participate in social protection programmes for veterans, for fighters who have completed their task. When we joined this war, no one said that we would be obliged to conclude agreements with the Ministry of Defence.
None of the PMC Wagner fighters are ready to walk the path of disgrace again.
This is why nobody is going to sign any contract,” reads the statement by Prigozhin’s press office.
Prigozhin believes the Russian State Duma will find a “compromise solution”. “I have 20 thousand fighters killed in action, are they also obliged to sign their contracts?” Prigozhin said.
Sergey Shoigu, Russia’s Defence Minister, signed a decree on 10 June that obliged all “volunteer units” to sign contracts with his agency before 1 July. Prigozhin reacted almost immediately, saying he was not going to sign any contract.
Vladimir Putin held a meeting with military bloggers yesterday, on 13 June, making a point that PMCs and volunteer units should have their legal status “be brought in line with common sense, standing practice, and the law”. They will need to sign contracts with the Defence Ministry, he added.
“It is the only way to ensure social protection [for the volunteers], since if they are not under a contract with the Defence Ministry, there are no legal grounds for them to have public social welfare. They need to do it, and the sooner they do it the better,” Putin said.
Volunteer unit Akhmat has already signed a contract with the Russian Defence Ministry.
