Prigozhin stirs up conflict with Russia's Defence Ministry against background of Ukraine's counteroffensive – UK Defence Intelligence

UK Defence Intelligence has reported that the owner of the Russian Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is trying to undermine the authority of the Russian Ministry of Defence, while the ministry considers his actions inappropriate against the background of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence report on Twitter on 20 June, as reported by European Pravda

UK Defence Intelligence reports that on 19 June, Prigozhin said he was expecting a reply from the Russian Defence Ministry regarding his own draft of a ‘contract’ which he had submitted to the ministry three days before.

As UK intelligence recalls, this was a response to the decision of the Russian Defence Ministry that all "volunteer formations" should sign contracts with them by 1 July.

Quote: "Although the content of Prigozhin’s document has not been made public, the act of him delivering it raises the stakes, and is highly likely another deliberate effort to undermine the authority of the official military authorities. Prigozhin’s tone towards the MoD has become unambiguously confrontational," the message reads.

UK Defence Intelligence adds that the Russian Defence Ministry sees this as deeply "unfortunate" at a time when the Russian Federation is trying to counteract the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Background: The UK Defence Intelligence report for 15 June stated that Prigozhin had defied the Russian military leadership and the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, by refusing to allow the Wagner Private Military Company to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

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