Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance to Russia

[Eugene]

Source: NBC News

Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance to Russia

The Russian leader introducing a mandatory oath for private military contractors was a clear move to bring such groups under tighter state control.

Aug. 26, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT
By Leila Sackur

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Wagner mercenary fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state days after its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and some of his lieutenants were presumed to have died in a plane crash.

Under the new rules, which took immediate effect on Friday, all “persons entering volunteer formations, and other persons contributing to the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military formations and bodies and taking part in a special military operation must pledge allegiance to the country and military.”

The rules also required that they should take an oath that they will be “devoted to the Russian Federation, to courageously defend its independence and constitutional order.”

The wording of the oath includes a line in which those who swear to it promise to strictly follow the orders of commanders and senior leaders, and is described in the decree as a step to forge the spiritual and moral foundations of the defense of Russia.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wagner-group-fighters-vladimir-putin-yegeny-prigozhin-plane-crash-rcna101951

[Wonder Why]

1. Two comments

Wagner forces are made up of murderers and other serious criminals. Obviously morality and oaths mean nothing to them. So why waste the time?

If they swear to "courageously defend its independence and constitutional order” , does that mean they are free to kill Puty and attack the government since he surely has no constitutional authority in Russia any more as a war criminal.

[Irish_Dem]

4. Exactly, the oath swearing is nonsense so I wonder why Putin is doing it?

He knows they are lying when they take the oath.

And with or without an oath Putin can send them to prison or kill them
for any disloyalty.

Must be PR of some sort.

[Freethinker65]

2. Prigozhin recently pledged loyalty to Russia/Putin...

[MLAA]

3. Do you think Russia will pay them what they are accustomed to getting from a private company?

Will these guns for hire be allowed to leave Belarus if they don’t want to become part of the Russian military?

[czarjak]

5. WHAT have they got to lose?