Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday it has signed a contract with the Akhmat group of Chechen special forces, a day after Russia's powerful mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin refused to do so.
The signing followed an order that all "volunteer units" should sign contracts by July 1 bringing them under the control of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, as Moscow tries to assert its control over private armies fighting on its behalf in Ukraine.
Prigozhin, who has waged a running feud with the defence ministry and accused it of failing to provide adequate ammunition supplies to his Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine, said on Sunday he wouldThe contract the defence ministry signed on Monday was with the Akhmat paramilitary group that has often been called the private army of Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia's Chechnya region.
Moscow said on Friday that the Akhmat forces were waging an offensive near the town of Maryinka, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.
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