Military

A Wolf in Mercenary Clothing? Russia Private Contractors as Gray Zone Tool

Private military companies are conceptually different than private security companies hired for defensive asset and VIP protection and training – though at times the distinction blurs. PMCs are expeditionary, offensively oriented private entities equipped with the mandate – whether official or not – to engage in combat that seeks to defeat or deter opponents and gain territory. Unlike the mercenaries of old, private military companies are structured as multinational corporations, often with a web of subsidiaries and shell companies in various legal jurisdictions around the globe.

• While technically private entities, private military companies are often hired by foreign governments at the behest or in line with their home country’s national policies. They appear under the context of a deficiency in political will to sustain prolonged military operations abroad and often deploy with a backdrop of natural resource exploitation with promises of follow-on contracts to secure installations upon completing their mission.
• Following the protocols of the infamous South African private military company of the 1990s, Executive Outcomes, in their campaigns in Sierra Leone and Angola, the Kremlin is reportedly using such market-based incentives in Syria by granting oil and mining rights to private military contractors that secure territory from extremists. According to The New York Times, two Russian companies, Evro Polis – who is allegedly cooperating with Wagner, and Stroytransgaz, have already signed such agreements with the Syrian government.