British intelligence services on Thursday believed the rhetoric of the leader of the Wagner Group was “developing into a challenge to wider sectors” of the Russian regime by refusing to sign contracts with the defense ministry.
Yevgeny Prigozhin rejected Defense Minister Serguei Shoigu’s order that all Russian paramilitary groups operating in Ukraine, such as Wagner, must sign service contracts with the ministry before July 1.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday supported Shoigu’s decision, but Prigozhin reaffirmed his refusal to sign contracts the next day.
For months, Prigozhin has been passionately critical of the direction of the Defense Ministry, but has submitted to Putin’s authority,” the British secret services said in a statement published by the British Ministry of Defense on the social network Twitter.
British services recalled that Prigozhin insisted on refusing despite Putin’s support for the measure, saying that “no Wagner Group fighter will walk the path of shame”.
“Prigozhin’s rhetoric is developing into a challenge to wider parts of the Russian establishment”considered the “secret” of London.
a “deadline for volunteers to sign contracts likely to be turning point in dispute”they added, according to the Spanish agency Europa Press.
Russia’s Defense Ministry justified the contracts as an “attempt to provide necessary legal status and expand social protection and support measures for volunteers and their families”.
“When the fatherland was in trouble, when Wagner’s help was needed and we all went to defend it, the president promised us all social guarantees”Prigozhin wrote on the digital platform Telegram on Wednesday.
“I have 20,000 dead. Do they also have to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense?”sarcastically asked the leader of the Wagner Group, considered an ally of Putin.
The contracts were signed over the weekend and the first was signed with the Chechen special forces unit Akhmat, led by Ramzan Kadyrov.
The Wagner Group has been involved in the war in Ukraine, started by Russia on February 24, 2022, and has distinguished itself in the battle for Bakhmut, considered the longest and bloodiest of the conflict so far.
Prigozhin claimed the eastern Ukrainian city on May 20.
The conflict in Ukraine plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The balance of military and civilian casualties for the war is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, admit it will be high.
Ukraine has relied on the support of Western allies for arms supplies.
The West has also imposed sanctions on Russian interests to try to reduce Russia’s ability to fund Ukraine’s war effort.
Source: DN
