President Vladimir Putin is seeking allegiance from all members of Wagner and similar Russian private military organizations.
The rule covers people who are involved in military activities in Ukraine, helping the army and serving in territorial defense groups.
He made the decision official on Friday and it started right away.
It happens two days after the leaders of Wagner were believed to have died in a plane accident.
According to Natia Seskuria, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, Putin wants to have more control over Wagner so that he can prevent any future crises. This means that Putin is becoming more cautious and avoiding taking risks.
The order is given when Wagner hired soldiers don’t have a clear person in charge, because a plane that was believed to be carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin and other leaders crashed on Wednesday, causing the death of all 10 people on board.
The decree says that the oath is important to strengthen the values and beliefs that protect Russia. The oath includes a promise to follow the orders of leaders and commanders.
Petro Burkovskyi, who works for a think tank in Ukraine, told the BBC that the message hidden in the text is telling the military intelligence to locate and punish Wagner fighters.
And he also suggests that it is a clear signal to the fighters.
In the past, they promised to follow the rules, just like many other armies do. This is a message for Wagner fighters: either promise to be loyal and keep your weapons, or give up your weapons. “Do as you’re told, or you’ll be sent to jail. ”
A few weeks before Prigozhin’s uprising didn’t work in June, the Russian defense ministry told groups of hired soldiers they had until July 1st to agree and sign contracts to join the army.
Prigozhin didn’t want his Wagner Group to work for the ministry, so he didn’t sign.
Mr Putin supported the ministry’s contract plan , which was the first public setback for his long-time ally Prigozhin.
What will happen to the Wagner fighters if they don’t have a clear leader.
Burkovskyi believes that because they have been trained and have a lot of experience in fighting, they are valuable resources for the Russian army.
Most of them are military professionals, and their main focus is their career rather than their beliefs or ideology.
“They selected Wagner because they received preferential treatment from Wagner, without dealing with the complex systems of the large Russian military force. ” If they receive special treatment because of Putin’s instructions, I don’t think they worry about where they will fight, who they will fight, and who they are fighting for.
Ms Seskuria thinks that people who support Prigozhin but refuse to take the oath could cause problems in the future.
“I believe the message is very straightforward: if you don’t obey the rules, you’ll face consequences like Prigozhin,” she states.
In that way, it will be effective for a short amount of time. But, Prigozhin had people who supported him in Wagner and this could cause issues for Putin in the future.
On Saturday morning, there were drone attacks in Moscow and Belgorod regions. The drones were successfully stopped by the air defense systems, as stated by Russian officials.
No one was hurt or injured, and nothing was broken or harmed. Flights at Moscow’s three main airports were temporarily stopped for a few hours.
In the area next to Ukraine called Belgorod, four people got hurt because of the attack, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Moscow said Ukraine was responsible for the shooting and drone attacks. Kyiv has not said anything yet, as they rarely admit to being responsible for the attacks in Russia.
In Ukraine, two people died and one person got injured when Russia attacked a village close to the northeast town of Kupiansk. The governor of Kharkiv’s region said that a café was also hit during the attack.