The mercenary leader Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stressed on Tuesday that he was “not sure” that his forces would remain in Ukraine after Russia’s looming takeover of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after months of fighting.

Wagner’s mercenaries are “active” in Africa and the Middle East and have active contracts in these zones.

Yesterday, Prigozhin explained that his mercenaries are not going to sign any contract with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

A few hours earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry had announced that all mercenary organizations would have to sign contracts with the ministry by July 1, with the aim, according to Moscow, of boosting the effectiveness of the Russian military.

Although the Defense Ministry did not mention Wagner in its announcement, Russian media believe it is an attempt by Sergei Shoigu to bring the mercenary organization under his control.

Yevgeny Prigozhin systematically attacks the Russian military leadership and Shoigu personally for incompetence and betrayal in the conduct of the war in Ukraine.

Prigozhin argued that Wagner has joined the overall system and is fully subservient to Russia’s interests, but “its very effective administrative structure” would suffer if placed under Shoigu’s command.

“Shoigu is not able to manage military forces,” Prigozhin said, adding that Wagner was coordinating her action in Ukraine with General Sergei Surovykin, the “butcher of Mariupol.”