The founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the Russian government should provide its fighters with all social benefits without them having to sign any contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin said that PMC mercenaries should conclude contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry. Prigozhin nevertheless reiterated his previous statements that such contracts would not be possible.

"The government should participate in social guarantees for veterans, for fighters who have completed the task. Therefore, when we began to participate in this war, no one said that we would be obliged to conclude agreements with the Ministry of Defense. None of the Wagner PMC fighters is ready to follow the path of shame again. And therefore, no one will enter contracts.

As for social guarantees, I think that the State Duma and the president will find a compromise solution which will allow to receive both social guarantees and documents. I have 20,000 killed, should they also sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense?" Prizozhin’s press service quotes him as saying.

On June 10, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu ordered all "volunteer detachments" fighting in Ukraine to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense by July 1. In the following days, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that several private detachments agreed to sign contract agreements. Prigozhin refused, stressing that the Wagner PMC is "organically integrated into the overall system" and "is absolutely completely subordinate to the interests of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief [Putin]."

On June 13, at a meeting with "military correspondents", Putin expressed support for this initiative, stressing that "volunteers" need legal status so that they can receive social guarantees. "First, they need to conclude contracts with the Ministry of Defense. The second step is to amend the laws. Both will be done," Putin said.

  War in Ukraine, Prigozhin, Wagner

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