Modern Day Mercenaries

By Brian Chin

Modern private military companies, or PMCs, have been around since World War Two, and today these companies play a pivotal role in modern warfare. For instance, they were so heavily used in the Iraq war that they contributed to the largest fighting force after United States troops. Despite these large numbers, they face little government oversight or legal constraints, which have resulted in massacres like that of Nisour Square, where the United States-backed Blackwater Security Consulting private military company killed seventeen Iraqi civilians while injuring twenty. Despite the perpetrators initially being convicted of murder and manslaughter, they were eventually controversially pardoned by President Donald Trump six years after they were convicted.

Today, private military companies play a major role for the Russians in the Ukrainian war. The most prominent of these companies being used on the front is a PMC called the Wagner Group. This PMC first appeared in 2014 during the annexation of Crimea. Since then, it has been the group has been fighting alongside Russian-backed separatists in smaller clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Beyond Ukraine, Wagner Group has also been fighting with pro-government forces in Syria, supported groups in Libya, and have been seen supporting pro-Russian efforts throughout Africa. However, mainly out of the public eye until the Russian-Ukraine war that started just last year. They played a key role in preparations for the Russian invasion and there are reports that have surfaced that four hundred Wagner Group soldiers were sent to Africa to kill President Zelensky in mid-January, just a few weeks before the war in Ukraine started. In addition to this, according to an interview done by The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), a captured Russian sailor told them that the “Wagner Group helped him ‘change his profile’”(Pravda) after he joined the Russian infantry after an unsuccessful attempt to save a Russian cruiser at sea. This shows that the Wagner Group is taking an active role in training Russian troops before being set out to the frontlines. Beyond their impact in the backlines of the war, they also have had a strong impact on the frontlines. It has been speculated that the Wagner Group had a frontline combat role in the initial invasion of Ukraine. But that claim is yet to be confirmed. However, it is confirmed that they had a major role in the Battle of Bakhmut, where around one thousand Wagner combatants were killed in the actions, including a senior commander of the Wager Group, Aleksey Nagin. After his death, Nagin was touted as a “Hero of the Russian Federation.”(Bickerton et al.) Additionally, out of the one thousand deaths, nine hundred were recruited Russian convicts that were reportedly used as bait. These convicts were recruited by the Wager Group starting from the beginning of July of 2022 after they offered inmates one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand rubles and a government pardon if they served six months for the group. Additionally, if they were to die, they promised they would pay their families five million rubles or around sixty-four thousand United States dollars, a payment many prisoners could not refuse (Vasilyeva et al.). This manipulative recruitment process employed by Wagner Group further amplified their immorality towards their troops as many of these recruits were used as bait due to their poor training and lack of effective weapons.

Wager Group has had a history of immoral actions on the battlefield. For example, the Moura massacre in Mali, where over three hundred civilians were killed by both Mali Armed Forces and Wager Group forces. Additionally, in Ukraine, after they took control of Bucha, a city just North of Kyiv, they killed over four hundred civilians, including nine children. To make this worse, many of the Russian soldiers and members of the Wagner Group considered the actions normal, according to a report done by the German Federal Intelligence Service (Amann et al.). This sentiment of normality seen widely throughout the Russian and Wagner forces is a major cause for concern because it raises questions about their morality on the battlefield and whether or not the two groups are playing by the rules. From these conclusions made by the German Federal Intelligence Service, it seems as though both forces are breaking international war laws, and incidents like the Bucha massacre are actively being investigated by groups like Amnesty International, the UN, and NATO for possible and very likely war crimes.

In conclusion, the Wagner private military corporation is a dangerous group operating under Russian influence that should be charged with war crimes and serious sanctions. However, it must be noted that the Russians are not the users of private military corporations, as groups like Blackwater are used by Western countries as well and they should also face heavy scrutiny for the war crimes they have committed, unlike their previous treatment by President Donald Trump.

Works Cited

Amann, Melanie, et al. “Possible Evidence of Russian Atrocities: German Intelligence Intercepts Radio Traffic Discussing the Murder of Civilians in Bucha.” Spiegel, 7 April 2022, https://www.spiegel.de/international/ germany/possible-evidence-of-russian-atrocities-german-intelligence-intercepts-radio-traffic-discussing-the-murder-of-civilians-in-bucha-a-0a191c96-634f-4d07-8c5c-c4a772315b0d. Accessed 14 May 2023.

Bickerton, James, et al. “Russian Wagner Commander Killed in Ukraine’s Donbas.” Newsweek, 30 September 2022, https://www. newsweek.com/russian-wagner-commander-killed-ukraines-donbas-1747968. Accessed 14 May 2023.

Pravda, Ukrayinska. “Security Service of Ukraine questioned Russian who tried to save ...” Yahoo, 29 June 2022, https://www.yahoo. com/news/security-ukraine-questioned-russian-tried-084237417.html. Accessed 14 May 2023.

“Ukraine: Russian Forces’ Trail of Death in Bucha.” Human Rights Watch, 21 April 2022, https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/21/ukrainerussian-forces-trail-death-bucha. Accessed 14 May 2023.

Vasilyeva, Nataliya, et al. “Russian prisoners offered £2,800 and freedom if they serve in Ukraine - and come back alive.” The Telegraph, 5 July 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/worldnews/2022/07/05/russian-prisoners-offered2800-freedom-serve-ukraine-come/. Accessed 14 May 2023.