CHECHEN SPECIAL FORCES SIGN CONTRACT WITH RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY AFTER WAGNER’S REFUSAL

Mon 12 June 2023:

The paramilitary Akhmat group of Chechen special forces, who are waging the Kremlin’s attack close to the town of Mariinka in the Donetsk area of eastern Ukraine, and the Russian defense ministry have signed a contract.

The signing followed an order that all “volunteer units” should sign contracts by 1 July bringing them under the control of defence minister Sergei Shoigu, as Moscow tries to assert its control over private armies fighting on its behalf in Ukraine, Reuters reports.

In return, volunteer fighters would get the same benefits and protections as regular troops, including support for them and their families if they are wounded or killed.

WAGNER BOSS PRIGOZHIN BRUSHES OFF RUSSIAN ORDER TO SIGN MILITARY CONTRACTS

Prigozhin, who has waged a running feud with the defence ministry and accused it of failing to provide adequate ammunition supplies to his Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine, said on Sunday he would refuse to sign any such contract.

“I think this is a very good thing,” Akhmat commander Apty Alaudinov said after the group’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov accepted the offer.

He added that his group has “prepared and sent tens of thousands of volunteers” to Ukraine in the past 15 months.

So far, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, DC-based think tank, Chechen fighters have operated in areas behind the front line following their involvement in bloody battles in Ukrainian cities, including Mariupol, Severodonetsk and Lysychanak.

But after fighting in Russia’s Belgorod intensified earlier this month, Kadyrov’s troops have likely been ordered to take a leading role in the fighting in Ukraine, ISW said.

Over the weekend, Prigozhin said his units “will not sign any contracts with Shoigu”.

“Shoigu can’t properly control military formations,” Prigozhin said in an audio message, published by his press service on Saturday.

The Wagner chief has repeatedly criticised Russia’s defence ministry, arguing that it does not provide enough support to his troops in Ukraine.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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