Russian President Vladimir Putin, has signed a presidential decree forcing Russian paramilitary fighters to swear oath of allegiance to the Russian Federation.
This is coming two days after Wagner PMC boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death.
Russian paramilitary fighters, in the new presidential decree signed on Friday, August 25th, will now have to swear an oath of allegiance to the Russian flag.
The new development is aimed at “forming the spiritual and moral foundations for the defence of the Russian Federation” and also applies to volunteer formations — a term usually describing mercenary groups — according to the decree by Putin.
The decree also applies to groups “contributing to the execution of tasks given to the armed forces” and territorial defence units.
The decree published on the Kremlin website stated that fighters must pledge “their loyalty to the Russian Federation… strictly follow their commanders and superiors’ orders, and conscientiously fulfil their obligations.”
The document was signed by President Vladimir Putin, two months after Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led a mutiny against Moscow’s top guns.
When asked about the future of Wagner PMC, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that “legally the Wagner private military group does not exist.”
