PMC Wagner ceased to be member of special military operation before armed mutiny

After PMC Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin refused to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defence, he was informed that Wagner would not participate in the special military operation, the head of the State Duma Defence Committee Andrei Kartapolov said, TASS reports.

According to Kartapolov, a few days before the mutiny, the Ministry of Defence ordered all formations that perform combat missions to sign a contract with the department. All units and groups, except for PMC Wagner, fulfilled the instruction.

"Everyone except Mr. Prigozhin [followed the instructions from the ministry]. He was then informed that in this case Wagner would not be taking part in the special military operation," Kartapolov said.

The head of PMC Wagner announced the beginning of the rebellion on June 24. Prigozhin accused the Russian military of attacking PMC Wagner rear camps. The same day, Wagnerites seized the building of the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don. Subsequently, it as reported that columns of PMC Wagner military equipment were traveling in in the direction of Moscow.

After negotiations with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin said that his columns were turning back to field camps. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then said that Prigozhin would go to Belarus. The FSB dropped the armed mutiny case against Prigozhin.