Russia's MOD said Tuesday it signed contracts with 4 detachments and 3 brigades of volunteers. It came after the MOD announced last week that Russian "volunteer" groups fighting in Ukraine would be required to sign contracts with the country's defense ministry. The move was widely seen as an effort to bring the Wagner Group under official military control, the BBC reported. Wagner group head Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Sunday that he received an order from Russia's defense ministry to bring his group under its command. The Wagner group — which sent tens of thousands of mercenary fighters and convicts to fight in Ukraine — and Russia's defense ministry have been involved in an escalating public feud.

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Persons: It's, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, —, Vladimir Alekseev, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Sergey Surovikin, Vladimir Putin Organizations: MOD, Service, Ministry of Defense, Kremlin Wagner, Volunteer Assault Corps, Wagner Group, BBC, Russian MOD, Washington DC, for, Ukraine's, Kremlin, Washington Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Bakhmut