Chechens align with Russian Defense Ministry against mercenary Wagner Group
Joel Gehrke
Video Embed
Russian officials have moved to bring paramilitary Russian forces under official control in a maneuver that has showcased the divergence between the defense brass and Russia’s most prominent mercenary group.
“I think this is a very good thing,” a Chechen commander, Apty Alaudinov, said Monday while participating in a signing ceremony with Russian Defense Ministry officials.
GAS PRICES TODAY: WHERE TO FIND THE CHEAPEST FUEL ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s team touted Alaudinov as an exemplary figure. ”I hope that in the future, looking at our first experience, the rest of the voluntary units will also sign such contracts,” Russian general staff deputy chief Alexei Kim said, per an unofficial translation.
The ceremony points to the alignment of the Russian Defense Ministry and Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov. Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, by contrast, has declared that he will not sign any contract with the ministry, but Shoigu’s team signaled an intent to counteract that resistance.
“All commanders of volunteer units and detachments will also be happy to sign this contract because it gives a serviceman the same status as in the Ministry of Defence,” said senior Chechen politician and militia leader Adam Delimkhanov, one of Kadyrov’s top lieutenants.
Yet Prigozhin, whose forces took a leading role in the struggle around Bahkmut even as the man known as “Putin’s chef” accused Shoigu of undermining his efforts, has pledged not to submit to Shoigu’s authority.
“PMC Wagner will not sign any contracts with Shoigu,” Prigozhin said Saturday after ministry officials announced the plan to subordinate the paramilitary forces. “Shoigu can’t properly control military formations.”
Delimkhanov’s participation in the ceremony on Monday showcases the growing acrimony between Prigozhin and Russia’s other martial power centers. Delimkhanov rebuked Prigozhin for making public criticisms of defense officials in a condescending tone replete with a thinly-veiled threat.
“If you don’t understand, then you can contact us and tell us the place and the time, and we will explain to you what you don’t understand,” the Chechen official said on June 1. “You have become a blogger who screams and shouts off to the whole world about all the problems … Stop shouting, yelling, and screaming.”
One of Prigozhin’s top subordinates responded by questioning the “presumptuousness” with which the Chechen side had addressed Prigozhin, and offering his own bellicose challenge.
“PMC ‘Wagner’ takes 1st place in the top of private military companies, is recognized all over the world,” Wagner Group commander Dmitry Utkin said on June 1. “We’re always ready to talk like ‘man to man.’ Moreover, we know each other, since the first and second wars in Chechnya.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Prigozhin, for his part, reportedly predicted that Shoigu would use his refusal to sign a contract as a reason to withhold supplies from the Wagner Group.
“What may happen after this order — that we won’t be given weapons and ammunition — we’ll figure it out, as they say,” he said. “When the storm hits, they’ll come running and bring weapons and ammunition, asking us to ‘help.’”