MOSCOW, June 29 (Reuters) - Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was told that his Wagner group would no longer fight in Ukraine as he had refused to sign contracts to bring his mercenaries under the sway of the defence ministry, a senior lawmaker said on Thursday.
"As you know, a few days before the attempted mutiny, the defence ministry said that all formations performing combat tasks must sign contracts with the defence ministry," said Kartapolov.
Prigozhin said on June 11 that his Wagner fighters would not sign any contract with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, adding that Shoigu was unable to manage military units.
Kartapolov said that after Prigozhin's refusal to sign the contracts he had been told that his mercenaries would no longer fight in Ukraine and thus would not receive state money.
As a result, the lawmaker said, Prigozhin, committed treason due to "exorbitant ambitions", money and what he cast as an "excited state".
Persons:
Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Andrei Kartapolov, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Kartapolov, Alexander Marrow, Gareth Jones
Organizations:
Defence, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
MOSCOW, Ukraine