MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. A bill on private military companies requires thorough study and may be ready no earlier than the fall, Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, which has begun to develop the bill, told TASS on Monday.
"Now it is just difficult to speculate about any dates, for there is a large amount of work ahead. I think there will be nothing before the fall," Kartapolov stated. He also added that as a result of this work a separate basic law on PMCs could be drafted.
Kartapolov also emphasized that the bill would require "interdepartmental coordination within 30 days," while the legislators now have just one month left before the end of the spring session of the State Duma.
"We have already adopted a number of laws that apply to people who are currently employed by PMCs. We will need to splice them together so that there is no contradiction in different laws. It’s a big job," Kartapolov added.
Attempted mutiny
On the evening of June 23, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the PMC Wagner, said on his Telegram channel that his units had been attacked, and accused the military leadership of Russia. The Defense Ministry dismissed these allegations as false. PMC Wagner units who agreed to support Prigozhin headed for Rostov-on-Don and towards Moscow. The FSB opened a case over the call for armed mutiny. Russian President Vladimir Putin in a televised address described the PMC Wagner’s actions as treason. Later, by agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held talks with Prigozhin. The PMC Wagner’s convoys turned back and returned to the field camps. The Kremlin later clarified that the criminal case against Prigozhin would be dropped and he would be allowed to move to Belarus. According to Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the authorities will not prosecute PMC personnel for taking part in the mutiny in light of their accomplishments on the frontline.