Russia says Wagner Group's chief rebelled over contract signing with Defense Ministry

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russian senior lawmaker Andrey Kartapolov said on Thursday that the head of the paramilitary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, went rogue after the request to all forces fighting on the Russian side to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry by July 1.

Kartapolov, who heads the Defense Committee of the State Duma, the lower chamber of parliament, said at a news conference in Moscow that signing contracts for military service was the only way to legalize all fighters and ensure their rights, including the right to social payments.

Except for Prigozhin, everyone, according to Kartapolov, began to implement this decision.

Prigozhin was told that if he did not sign a contract, he would be unable to continue participating in the "special military operation," and his paramilitary group would lose funding, he said, adding that the Wagner Group chief refused to sign the contract.

"The following situation has developed -- the first is money, the second is stupid and exorbitant ambitions, and the third is an excited state. Together, all this resulted in an attempt at high treason and deception of his comrades-in-arms," he noted.

On June 24, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking its fighters, declared "A March of Justice," and set off toward Moscow, saying in a statement that he was going "to overthrow military chiefs."

The Federal Security Service designated Wagner Group's actions "an armed rebellion" and opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, while Russian President Vladimir Putin called the paramilitary private company's uprising an act of "treason."

Prigozhin and his fighters later decided to turn back "to avoid bloodshed" when they were 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Moscow.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he contributed to the settlement by holding talks with the Wagner’s head, which led to Prigozhin's decision to accept a de-escalation deal.