’Nothing has changed.’ Wagner Group still recruiting fighters throughout Russia for war against Ukraine.

Nearly a week after the Wagner Group rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the paramilitary group is continuing to recruit fighters to join the war against Ukraine, BBC News Russia reported on Friday. And according to journalists who called the company’s recruitment hotlines, new members sign contracts with Wagner Group itself, not with the Russian Defense Ministry.

The journalists reported that Wagner representatives in numerous Russian regions said that “nothing has changed” with regard to the company’s recruitment process, despite the fact that Wagner Group fighters captured Rostov-on-Don and were marching towards Moscow less than a week ago.

Earlier this month, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu signed an order requiring all Russian “volunteer formations” to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry by July 1. Yevgeny Prigozhin, who controlled Wagner Group at the time, refused to do so. According to Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the Russian State Duma's Defense Committee, Prigozhin was notified that if Wagner Group didn’t sign a contract with the government, its fighters would be barred from participating in combat and the company would lose state funding.