June 11 (UPI) — Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner Group, hit back at Russia’s Defense Ministry on Sunday as the military appears to move to take control of the mercenary forces.
Prigozhin’s comments were posted by his company on Telegram and come as a response to Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov stating Saturday that “volunteer formations” will be asked to sign contracts directly with the military.
The mercenary boss and Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, have been feuding for months over war efforts in Ukraine as the former appears to be vying for increased political power in Russia.
“Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu. The Wagner private military company is organically built into the overall system,” Prigozhin said.
“Wagner coordinates its actions with the generals on the right, left, with unit commanders, has the deepest experience and is a highly effective structure.”
Prigozhin claimed that most Russian military units do not have the battlefield efficiency of Wagner forces because “Shoigu cannot manage military formations normally” and instead scrawls orders and decrees.
“When thunder breaks out, they will come running and bring weapons and ammunition with a request, ‘help,'” he said.
Prigozhin added that the Wagner Group remains subordinate to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the will of the country.
Pankov, in a statement published by the Russian Defense Ministry on Telegram, said that the military is stepping up its recruitment efforts — noted that over 13,500 were accepted contracts in the first 10 days of June, which is 3.1 times more than in April.
“In addition to the entry of citizens into contract service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, we have a significant increase in citizens who want to defend the Fatherland in volunteer formations,” Pankov said.
Pankov admitted that “volunteer” forces like those of the Wagner Group are successful at fighting on the front lines.
“This speaks of the high consolidation of Russian society, the desire of citizens to make a personal contribution to the achievement of a common victory,” Pankov said.
However, Pankov said that Russian leaders remain concerned about the legal issue of regulating such volunteer formations.
In addition, during the conference call, issues of legal regulation of the status of volunteer formations were considered and Russian officials have ordered volunteer units to sign contracts with the military by July 1.
“This will give volunteer formations the necessary legal status, create common approaches to organizing comprehensive support and fulfilling their tasks,” he said.
Pankov did not directly name the Wagner Group in his comments.