Chechen forces signed a deal with Russia after the militia group Wagner, which operates as a private company in Russia, refused.

The Russian Defense Ministry has signed an agreement with the Akhmat group of Chechen special forces. It is a paramilitary group operating for the Kremlin near the town of Marinka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

The announcement of the agreement between Russian and Chechen forces comes a day after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s private mercenary Wagner Group, refused to sign such a deal.

The deals are part of a new Russian law aimed at controlling private armies fighting on Moscow’s behalf in Ukraine.

The decree requires all “volunteer units” to sign contracts by July 1 to bring them under the control of the country’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu.

The Kremlin says the volunteer fighters will receive the same benefits as regular soldiers if they agree to the terms of the defense pact.

Comments