Russia's Prigozhin was told he would no longer fight in Ukraine -lawmaker

FILE PHOTO: Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was told that his Wagner group would no longer fight in Ukraine as he had refused to sign contracts to bring his mercenaries under the sway of the defence ministry, a senior lawmaker said on Thursday.

Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, an influential lawmaker who chairs the lower house of parliament's defence committee, said the trigger for Saturday's mutiny was Prigozhin's disagreement with a demand by the defence ministry that his mercenary group sign contracts.