Overview

• Wagner, a Russian paramilitary group, will not sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
• Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner group, refuses to sign any contract with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
• Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, founder of the private military force Wagner, refuses to comply with an order to sign a formal contract with Russia's defense ministry by July 1.
• This refusal highlights a feud between Prigozhin and Russia's defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, and infighting over the management of Russian troops in Ukraine.
• Prigozhin suggests that his refusal to comply with the order could result in blowback for Wagner, but his forces remain loyal to President Vladimir V. Putin and the Russian state.