The first private military companies in Russia. In Russia, PMCs have been legalized and recruitment is in full swing

In international peacekeeping operations of our time, private military companies occupy an equal position with regular armies. Moreover, based on the conclusions of American experts, such military corporations will play an increasingly significant role in local armed conflicts and wars in the future.

Already as of today it is quite obvious (based on the experience of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq) that the existence of PMCs has an impact on the course of events, and sometimes they take over most functions of the police and the army.

It should be noted that the US government has always considered the Middle East as a region of mandatory military presence of its army, because there are not only energy resources, but also the ability to control vast territories under the guise of spreading democracy. Over the past decades, armed conflicts have been constantly occurring in the Middle East. Therefore, we can safely say that, in addition to American private military companies, corporations from other countries will also appear on the continent. Already now there are many of them.

One of the most famous private military companies is the American security firm Blackwater (" Black water"). It was founded in 1997 by former commando Eric Prince along with shooting coach Al Clark. A few years later, another company was created, which in fact was its new branch, Blackwater Security Consulting, whose fighters took part in military operations in Afghanistan. However, there is practically no information about its activities during this period, since the US government is clearly not interested in disclosing information of this kind.

In 2003, the corporation's fighters made their presence known in Iraq. Officially, Blackwater fighters were engaged in training units of the local police and army. The firm suffered its first documented losses in 2004 (death of 4 employees). At the time when the fighters of this organization were withdrawn from Iraq, there were 987 fighters, 775 of whom had US citizenship.

In 2009, the structure was renamed to Xe Services LLC, but this did not change the essence of its activities. In 2010, the company was renamed Academi.

The company has many training bases not only in the United States, but also in other countries, where more than 40,000 people train annually. And it itself consists of a large number of subsidiaries and divisions. Blackwater (Xe Services LLC, Academi) is currently the largest organization of its kind in the world.

The company is headquartered in North Carolina.

Academi fighters receive their main income from participating in various kinds of armed conflicts, about 90 percent of the company's profits come from contracts with the US government. Statistically, the picture is as follows: if in 2001 the company received about 735 thousand dollars from the US budget, then in 2005 this amount increased to 25 million, and a year later it reached 600 million dollars.

Every day, one mercenary from Academi costs the US state 1,200 dollars (for comparison: a regular army soldier costs only 150-190 dollars).

The company gained infamy after the massacres during its participation in the war in Iraq. Academi fighters were involved in operations that resulted in the death of a large number of civilians in Baghdad. In addition, there are rumors that the company is engaged in smuggling. So, in particular, a high-profile scandal occurred in March 2010, when more than five hundred Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons disappeared from American warehouses in Afghanistan. In September, several employees of the company were charged with arms trafficking.

On the other hand, Blackwater took part in rescue operations after the most destructive hurricane in US history, Katrina, where about two hundred employees were sent. For the entire period of this operation, the company received 240 thousand dollars of income daily.

As mentioned above, at the moment Academi is a huge military company that specializes in orders for military operations and cargo escort. In addition, each division that is part of the corporation performs one or another activity. In particular, Blackwater Maritime Solutions trains the special forces of the navies of many countries, such as Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Greece. In addition, this unit has been training American sailors for the destroyer USS Cole, and also provides protection to diplomats in Afghanistan, Israel, Iraq and Bosnia.

In 2003, the corporation bought Aviation Worldwide Services, which has three subsidiaries involved in the repair and maintenance of aircraft. This company is also very actively cooperating with the US military department, has at its disposal several MD-530 helicopters and CASA 212 and Boeing 767 aircraft, which were used during the war in Iraq. The same firm has been freight transport in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Academi also includes Blackwater Airships, which designs drones, Blackwater Armored Vehicle, which designs light armored vehicles, Raven Development Group, which is engaged in construction activities, and K-9, which trains service dogs. The brain of the corporation can be called the Xe Watch company, which monitors all the activities of the corporation's divisions, collects information on military conflicts, arms smuggling and other data related to the military sphere.

The company's official press release states that it also provides security and transportation services, air transportation, army logistics and humanitarian support. In addition, Academi staff assist in establishing law and order in disaster areas.

It should be noted that this company is one of the five companies that were selected by the US government to supply equipment and provide services to combat drug trafficking.

Academi has great capabilities and resources and enjoys the frank patronage of the American government, so even after the bloody massacres of civilians during armed conflicts, not a single mercenary was held accountable or even fired.

The second largest private security company in the world is G4S. The number of its employees reaches 657 thousand people. It is a multinational security services firm headquartered in the UK in Crawley.

Representative offices of the company exist in 125 countries of the world. G4S was founded in 2004 after the merger of the Danish company Group 4 Falck and the British company Securicor PLC. From 2006 to 2008, the company was the target of criticism from trade unions, whose leaders claimed that subsidiaries did not respect human rights and labor standards. In 2008, G4S began providing security for major music and sports events. And the reason for this expansion of services was the acquisition of Rock Steady Group, a company specializing in such areas of security. In addition, in 2008, the company RONCO Consulting Corporation was bought, which is one of the leading companies that specialize in commercial and humanitarian demining and ammunition disposal. In the same year, G4S bought Armor Group International and completed the acquisition of Global Solutions Limited.

In 2009, the company continued to buy security companies. In particular, the leaders of the British market of commercial and technical consulting, as well as the leader in providing support for basic operations and controls, an American provider of integrated security systems and communications systems, were bought.

The G4S company was also not without scandals. In 2009, a prisoner from Western Australia died while being transported by company employees in a car with no air conditioning and no access to water. But then they chose not to start a criminal case. The same year saw the infamous Westeborg helicopter robbery. After the analysis of the robbery, both the police and the employees of the company were sharply criticized.

In the same year, employees of the Australian representative office of G4S went on strike due to the fact that the company did not care about the working conditions of the staff and did not pay a decent salary. This led to the fact that the entire judicial system of the Australian state of Victoria was put in jeopardy.

In 2011, G4S bought Guidance Monitoring, a company specializing in the design and manufacture of electronic monitoring technologies, including software and hardware used to track offenders. At the end of the same year, the company bought the assets of Chubb, a firm that specializes in emergency response in the UK.

The main activity of the company is focused on the provision of security services, the provision of money security services (transportation of valuables and funds), and the provision of security services. In addition, employees of the company ensure the detention of offenders in custody on behalf of the police, provide security services at airports. The company works on the introduction of security systems, provides logistics services to banks and provides cash management, takes part in the processes of consulting, risk management and security support in areas with limited security infrastructure. In addition, G4S staff are engaged in ground clearance of ammunition, training of personnel, and also provide a service for protecting the income of British railway companies.

Among the corporation's clients are governments of many sovereign states, corporations, financial institutions and public utilities, as well as airports and seaports, logistics and transport providers and individuals.

In 2011, the company's management signed the "UN Global Compact", which is an international standard for promoting business behavior, including labor protection, human rights, anti-corruption and environmental protection.

FDG Corp.

Another American military private company - the so-called "Group R" (Fort Defense Group Corporation, FDG Corp.) - was founded in 1996 by Marine A. Rodriguez. A few years later, his companion became Russian officer D. Smirnov. Its headquarters is located in Jacksonville. The company has concentrated its main activities in almost all hot spots of the world - Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, Iraq, Guinea-Bissau, Israel, Palestine, the Gaza Strip and Afghanistan. The company is engaged in the provision of services such as the protection of ships and cargo, military logistics, sea and land transportation, training of special units and security groups for operations in high-risk areas, military consulting. Special Role the organization is assigned to the FDG SEAL unit, which includes security swimmers who can counter terrorism at a high professional level both on and under the water.

The company worked in the Gulf of Aden, assisting the government of Somalia, in Guinea-Bissau, its employees assisted in the clearance and disposal of military waste and the organization of the Coast Guard.

The company became famous for its operations in transporting humanitarian and military cargo to Africa, guarding checkpoints in Iraq's Anbar province in 2006-2007, providing security for a delegation of veterans in Afghanistan during the opening of the memorial to the 9th company in 2011, and escorting American missions in the Gaza Strip in 2007 year. In addition, the company's fighters were noted for their participation in the Desert Fox and Desert Storm operations in Iraq, as well as for escorting oil tankers from the port of Umm Qasr to the countries of Indochina.

In 2010, the company underwent significant legal and organizational changes to optimize operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

DynCorp is one of the largest private military companies in the US. The company traces its origins to two firms that were founded in 1946: Land-AirInc, which was engaged in the technical maintenance of aircraft, and California Eastern Airways, which specialized in aviation business transportation. The latter was founded by military pilots. They founded the air cargo market and received a contract to serve American troops during the Korean War. In addition, a contract was signed with the White Sands missile range. Some experts are sure that this company was connected with the CIA.

Land-Air Inc. was acquired by California Eastern Airways in 1951. And a year later there was another merger - with the company AIRCAR, which specialized in the sale of commercial aircraft and spare parts for foreign governments and airlines.

In 1961, the company was rebranded, which was named "Dynalectron Corporation". After the expansion of the company, several main groups were identified in its composition: energy, contract, aviation and government services. Over the three decades of its existence, the company absorbed 19 other companies, the number of employees reached 7 thousand people, and annual income reached $300 million.

During the period 1976-1981, the company absorbed 14 more firms and by 1986 became the leader in the defense order market in North America. A year later, the company changed its name to DynCorp. The company's revenues by 1994 amounted to more than $1 billion, and three years later they exceeded $2.4 billion. The company bought four dozen companies and increased the number of employees to 24 thousand people.

DynCorp has been testing rocket technology for the US military, developing vaccines, installing security systems in US embassies. Then, after another diversification of the business, the company bought another 19 companies that were engaged in the production of digital services, as a result of which DynCorp received government contracts in the field of information technologies. In 2003, about 50 percent of the company's business was IT services for the FBI, CIA.

DynCorp currently generates more than $3.4 billion in annual revenue, employs over 10,000 people, and operates in areas such as air operations, recovery and development, maintenance and operations, and intelligence training. , security services.

In particular, the company's employees provide air support during operations to curb drug trafficking and combat terrorism. In addition, Afghan Air Force pilots are being trained. During the years of the war in Iraq, DynCorp was engaged in search and rescue operations, the deployment of rapid reaction forces, and medical evacuation.

Currently, the corporation's employees serve American military aircraft and helicopters, provide air support in the fight against forest fires.

In 2010, a special department was created in the company to provide humanitarian assistance in post-conflict and conflict zones, to carry out reforms. Thus, the company's specialists provided assistance in strengthening public financial management in Ghana, restoring peaceful life in Uganda, organizing anti-corruption programs in Malawi, Madagascar and Nigeria.

Since 2010, the corporation began to conduct training courses for intelligence services. At the moment, the company has about 300 professionals who are ready to provide services for the training of counterintelligence officers and intelligence officers, teach the basics of conducting special operations, and also train translators for the American army.

DynCorp was also not without scandals. So, in the late 90s, its employees were accused of pedophilia and child trafficking. During the investigation, evidence of these crimes was obtained. In addition, employees of the firm, who worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina, were accused of sex trafficking in 2000. Despite the fact that all the participants in the crimes were dismissed, none of them was brought to justice. And soon the company's management admitted that even before that, they fired several employees for such crimes.

And in 2001, Ecuadorian farmers accused DynCorp personnel of daily herbicide spraying, which had a negative impact on the health of the local population and on crop yields.

Then another scandal arose: employees of the company, who trained police officers in Afghanistan, used child prostitution and took drugs.

No less famous is another American private military company, MPRI. It was founded in 1987 by retired General W. Lewis. It has about 350 former American generals on its staff. This company is engaged on a commercial basis in consulting in the field of army management and reform (in Iraq), the selection and purchase of weapons (in Georgia), the development of doctrines and concepts (in Georgia), solves situational and operational problems, conducts humanitarian operations and military exercises. The firm provides services to the US government and the authorities of other states, acting in conjunction with the Pentagon and the CIA. At the moment, the company is headed by Generals Soyster, Vuono and Kresen.

MPRI has the largest database of American military specialists, and its employees have repeatedly participated in local conflicts and wars, in particular, assisted the government of Colombia, Liberia and Albanian militants in Macedonia, trained and planned operations for the Croatian army in 1995. So, for example, in Croatia in August 1995, successful operation"Storm", which was organized by this company. True, later the MPRI leadership denied their involvement in the operation, since the Croats staged ethnic cleansing during it. In turn, the Bosnian militants announced that they were ready to sign the Dayton Accords, but only if the MPRI would train their army. Thus, the company continued to cooperate with the Kosovo Liberation Army in Albania in 1998-1999 and in Macedonia in 2000-2001.

It is authentically known that in Bosnia and Afghanistan, the company's employees fought as part of "Islamic brigades". On the one hand, this will say little to an uninformed person, but in fact they fought under the direct supervision of the CIA.

The American government, thus, without officially interfering in political processes, achieved its goals.

In 2012, Serbian public organizations came out against the company with accusations of MPRI involvement in the genocide of Serbs in 1995 on the territory of Croatia, because before the start of the special operation, the company's specialists trained soldiers and officers of the Croatian armed forces. The organizations demanded $10 billion in compensation, that is, $25,000 for every Serb expelled from Croatian territory.

At the same time, representatives of the MPRI company stated that they did not agree with the requirements of the lawsuit and the fact that the company's employees cooperated with Croatia in the 1990s cannot be considered a violation of the UN sanctions that were imposed on Zagreb.

MPRI is currently the main vehicle for American policy in Africa. At the moment, she is participating in several programs to create a collective rapid reaction force that will be able to conduct humanitarian and peacekeeping operations on the continent. The firm is conducting active military reform in Nigeria. In Central Africa, the company chose Equatorial Guinea as a base after unsuccessful attempts to offer its services to the government of the Congo.

Aegis Defense Services

There are private military companies in the UK. One of the most famous is Aegis Defense Services, which was founded in 2002 by former British Army officer T. Spicer. The company has offices in Kenya, Iraq, Nepal, Bahrain, Afghanistan and the USA. The headquarters is located in Basel.

The number of personnel of the company reaches 20 thousand mercenaries. The main customer is the US government. Employees of this company are engaged in security activities in the aerospace, diplomatic and government sectors, as well as in the mining and oil and gas industries. The firm currently has a contract with the US government to provide security in Iraq and is valued at $293 million. In addition, in 2011, she was awarded a $497 million contract to protect the US government in Kabul.

Although officially a security company, it also provides armed personnel for the US government and UN missions. Geographically, its activities extend to Iraq, China, Greece, Congo, Kosovo, Nigeria, Sudan, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland, Tunik, United Kingdom, USA, Greece, Holland, Afghanistan, Nepal, Kenya and Bahrain, where assessment work is carried out risks and protection of oil companies. The number of the company reaches about 5 thousand people.

In 2005, Aegis Defense Services seemed to be involved in a scandal when a video appeared on the Internet in which company employees fired on Iraqi civilians. The company's management did not admit guilt, but the Pentagon refused further cooperation.

Erinys International

Another British military company that was founded by former British officer J. Garratt and South African apartheid official S. Cleary in 2002 and registered in the British Virgin Islands is Erinys International. In 2003, Cleary left, and British intelligence officer A. Morrison took his place, but a year later he moved to Kroll Inc, which is the world's largest financial intelligence firm.

Erinys has subsidiaries in the UK, the Republic of the Congo, Cyprus and South Africa.

The company's activities are focused mainly on the provision of security services, in particular, in areas of Central Africa with very difficult natural conditions. In addition, as areas of activity, one can single out the training of military personnel and consultations in the military sphere, participation in operational military activities, work in the intelligence services and the police. The company's employees are former employees of British intelligence agencies and special units.

Erinys International accompanies US government contracts in Iraq. The largest mission consisted of 16,000 fighters in more than 280 locations throughout the country, who took part in securing energy assets, in particular pipelines.

The company's employees showed themselves well during the wars in Iraq, when about 6.5 thousand soldiers were sent to guard important facilities.

The company was also at the center of a scandal when, in 2004, information appeared in the press about abuse with prisoners. The journalists' materials testified that the firm's employees violated the convention on human rights by using severe torture against a 16-year-old Iraqi resident during a military investigation.

Currently, this company works closely with oil and gas corporations, extractive industries, non-governmental organizations and public services. And in each of the contracts it helps clients to assess possible risks, regardless of the remoteness of the region of work and the level of complexity. In addition, the company's services are used by the American and British governments, as well as the UN.

Northbridge Services Group

There is also a joint US-British private military company, Northbridge Services Group, based in the Dominican Republic, with branches in the UK and Ukraine. According to some estimates, the company has at its disposal about three thousand former British military, as well as several thousand former military personnel of the French armies, South Africa and USA.

Northbridge Services Group provides services to the needs of multinational corporations, governments and non-governmental organizations, individuals and the corporate sector.

Northbridge Services Group assists law enforcement agencies in the fight against drug trafficking, terrorism, illegal search for information and organized crime, as well as helps in the protection of natural resources and maritime security. In 2012, the company's financial income reached 50 and a half million dollars.

In 2003, retired US Army Colonel Robert Kovacic took over as head of the company. The company rose to prominence in 2003 when it successfully rescued 25 oil workers who had been held hostage on an oil rig for two weeks. In addition, employees of the company played an important role in the civil conflict in Liberia in 2003, taking the side of the rebels. The result of their actions was the overthrow of the official government and the introduction of a UN peacekeeping mission.

The company, which specializes in security, even prepared a special operation to kidnap the disgraced President of Liberia Charles Taylor for an additional fee (about $4 million) in order to transfer him to a special UN war crimes court. However, this initiative was rejected as provocative and ridiculous.

At the same time, employees of the American FBI and the British Customs Service were conducting an investigation to clarify all the circumstances of the failed abduction, during which it was established that the company's management was negotiating the conditions for the capture and transfer of the leader of the African state. It was also established that the UN court did not refuse the company's services, but refused to pay money for the kidnapping, citing the lack of money.

"White Legion"

Separately, it is necessary to note the so-called "White Legion", which owes its name to operations on the African continent. According to various sources (and there is very little information that would be credible), the legion included several volunteer battalions of volunteers from Europe who fought in 1997 on the side of the dictator General Mobutu, who came to power in Zaire in 1960 after a military coup.

At the time of participation in the operation in Zaire, the legion consisted of about three hundred people. It consisted of one unit and two corps (Slavic corps, Colonel Tavernier's corps and Captain Dragan's unit).

Due to the fact that the fighters of the legion belonged to different nationalities (and here, according to some sources, there were French, Ukrainians and Russians, Belarusians and even Serbs), the fighters did not always understand the commands given in a foreign language, which affected the coherence work and combat.

The legion was armed with a lot of equipment and weapons: about 5-7 aircraft, mainly Soviet Mi-24s, 10 combat helicopters, as well as good Soviet-made small arms: 60-mm mortars, RPG-7 grenade launchers, Igla MANPADS, Yugoslav RB M57, light machine guns M53.

The most distinguished corps of Russian legionnaires. When the retreat began, they launched an air strike using the Il-76 as a bomber. In general, the Slavic legionnaires were on the continent until May 1997, and then disappeared just as suddenly as they appeared. They flew away on planes, with all the special equipment and in full uniform. The destination was either Tiraspol in Transnistria, or Serbia. Until now, it is not clear how the plane, full of armed people and military equipment, was able to land without hindrance almost in the center of Europe. According to rumors, this was a special operation, which was helped by Major General V. Antyufeev, who at that time was the head of the Transnistrian Security Committee.

In addition to these private military companies, there are a great many similar ones, big and small, solid and credible, and dubious. Every year they expand the scope of their activities, so we can say that in the near future such companies will become the main tool for implementing the policy of a state in the field of military security abroad.

Materials used:
http://russian7.ru/2014/04/7-glavnyx-chastnyx-armij-mira/
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Professional_Resources
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/FDG
https://ru-ru.facebook.com/dirclub/posts/687503704605451
http://www.militarists.ru/?p=6936
http://masterok.livejournal.com/1750645.html

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Now PMCs are working in the "gray" zone

Methods and resources of warfare at the end of XX - early XXI centuries are significantly different from those used by our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. One of the know-how of the past century was official appearance private military companies.

In Russia, such activities are prohibited and fall under two articles of the Criminal Code, although the use of PMCs in armed conflict zones has long been a common practice around the world. And now, when Russia is expanding its presence in other regions, PMCs could become good assistants to the army and promoters of the interests of the state. Of course, like anything, there are pros and cons. Whether Russia officially needs private military companies, which now exist in the country in a very shaky legal status, MK decided to find out from experts.

BlackWater is America's most famous private military company. After the scandal associated with their activities in Iraq, they rebranded and are now called Academy.

Background of the question

The "ancestors" of PMCs can conditionally be considered "soldiers of fortune", who began to operate already in the 50s. These were organized groups mercenaries who went to hot spots for good money and carried out the orders of those who gave them more money. As a rule, these were former military men or people simply interested in military affairs. After completing the mission, such units were usually disbanded. The first PMC appeared in Britain in the 60s. Its creator, a British army colonel, after analyzing the actions of the mercenaries, decided that their activities could, roughly speaking, be put on a conveyor belt. They were mainly engaged in the protection and security of oil companies in unstable regions. Until the 1990s, such organizations operated in the "grey" zone. Western governments used them to achieve their goals where the use of regular troops was impossible.

Gradually, PMCs began to emerge from the shadows after the end of the Cold War. Repeatedly, they tried to drive their activities into some kind of legal framework. After the scandal with the notorious Blackwater in Iraq (murders of civilians, etc.), the question of the responsibility of PMCs became very acute.

On September 17, 2008, the Montreux Document was adopted - a set of recommendations rather than strict rules. He determined that both the "country of origin" of the company and the country with which the PMCs entered into a contract should bear responsibility for the activities of PMCs. According to this document: “PMCs are private business entities that provide military and / or security services, regardless of how they characterize themselves. Military and security services include, in particular, armed protection and protection of people and objects, such as convoys, buildings and other places; maintenance and operation of combat complexes; detention of prisoners; advising or training local military and security personnel.”

In Russia, the activities of PMCs fall under the scope of two articles of the Criminal Code: "Mercenary" and "Organization of an illegal armed formation." Plus, the purchase of military weapons from us is illegal. However, taking into account the global trend of transferring some state functions to private hands, the question of the possibility of legalizing the activities of private military companies is increasingly being raised in our country.

The relevance of the issue is evidenced by repeated attempts to push through a law in Russia that would regulate the actions of PMCs. Now their status is very blurred - and officially they cannot exist, because this is not allowed by law, however, de facto structures that are very similar in their functions to PMCs already exist, they only operate in the "gray" zone.

“If the phenomenon takes place, then it should be controlled”

We asked ourselves the main question: does Russia need private military companies and who should regulate and control their activities? For answers to this question, we turned to Vladimir Neyelov, an expert at the Center for Strategic Market Research.

- You spoke about several bills on the activities of PMCs. Why wasn't one accepted?

— I think that we need to start with a little historical digression. This issue has been discussed in Russia for the past 6 years. The first attempt to pass a similar law was made back in 2012. As prime minister, in his message to the Federation Council, Vladimir Putin said that such a bill was timely. Therefore, in 2012 it was submitted for discussion. Dmitry Rogozin also publicly supported the bill. After several months of wandering through the corridors of the State Duma, the bill was turned down, pointing out that it "contradicts the Constitution." The next attempt to push through a similar bill was made in 2014, after the events in Ukraine. In November 2014, the bill did not go beyond the stage of preliminary consideration by the Council of the State Duma: it was also rejected for the same reason - a contradiction to the Constitution. In 2015-2016, two attempts were made, which were also unsuccessful. I think that the point here is in the position of the main power structures, and the events in Ukraine added fuel to the fire. First, there will be the issue of arms trafficking. However, there is world experience this problem can be resolved. For example, employees of British PMCs generally do not have the right to walk armed in the UK. How this will be regulated in our country is a question. Plus, as mentioned above, Ukraine has demonstrated to everyone that, having money, a person can create his own army, which, with the proper level of training, can withstand government forces.

- Is there really a need for legal regulation of the activities of PMCs in Russia?

- I am a supporter of the principle that if the phenomenon is already taking place, then it should be controlled. In Russia, in a certain "border" zone, there are, say, "RSB-Group", "Moran Security Group" and some other similar companies. That is, in Russia it definitely makes sense to regulate the activities of PMCs. Here the question of goal-setting should also be raised: if something is being created in the state, then you need to understand why. In the USA, for example, such companies are engaged in a wide range of activities. This includes the protection of ships, energy complex facilities, diplomatic and other missions, logistics, and training. In general, PMCs can be used where it makes no sense to delay the main forces. Why, say, leave a group in the rear to protect the oil infrastructure and thereby weaken the main grouping?

In the form in which private military companies exist in Western countries, this is quite effective remedy solving specific problems, the range of which is much wider than it is customary to present to the general public. But problems, as Western experience shows, arise a large number of. We must not forget that the owners of private military companies, as in any business, set as their main goal the extraction of profit, which in a certain sense is contraindicated in such a matter as military security.

In Russia, there are a large number of military specialists who, for various reasons, left the power structures. And many would like to continue to engage in military affairs. And PMCs for such people are a great alternative. In Britain, for example, it is not uncommon for such companies to enter into agreements with large oil companies to protect facilities in hot spots. We could act on the same principle - this will not delay the regular units and the money will remain in the country. Moreover, large domestic corporations operating in unstable regions of the world could legally hire Russian PMCs to provide security. Their services, in turn, would be in good demand among many states and foreign businesses, that is, they would bring some income to the Russian treasury (provided that they would not be taken offshore).

But in terms of personnel, there is back side- there may be an outflow of personnel from law enforcement agencies. Indeed, on the example of Western PMCs, they pay more in private companies. In addition to financial, there are other motives. For example, in private military companies there is no such rigid hierarchical structure as in the armed forces, where it is often more difficult for professionals who want to realize their potential to do so than in a private organization.

- How should the state control the activities of PMCs?

- The activities of PMCs, of course, should be controlled. First, there is a licensing mechanism for this. Any PMC, before entering the market, must go through this procedure. Plus, any activity that is related to the circulation of weapons should be under the control of the state.

- What functions can PMCs perform in a combat zone?

- Protection of objects, high-ranking officials, escort of convoys, consulting, moreover, in the broadest sense - from operational-tactical to strategic. There are examples when PMCs help the state in which they work in the development of military doctrine. In Ukraine, for example, employees of PMCs were involved in police reform. In addition, the functions may include logistics, logistics, and training. By training, you also need to understand a very wide range - here the training of personnel and the basics of tactics, and the handling of new types of weapons. Often, PMC employees are also involved as military translators. Private experts can be involved in intelligence gathering. In general, the spectrum is wide.

- What types of weapons, in your opinion, can PMCs use?

- Well, first of all, light small arms, light armored vehicles, armored vehicles. Helicopters and transport aircraft. But the use of heavy armored vehicles is the prerogative of the army.

- Who should be responsible for the activities of PMCs? The company itself, the state or the employer?

Again, it's easier to explain with an example. In 2012, there was a rather revealing story with our Moran Security Group. They signed a contract in Nigeria. And this country is in the zone of interests of Britain, and the queen's subjects did not want to share their "piece of the pie". Therefore, the ship on which the company's employees were sent on a mission was detained for smuggling weapons. For a year and a half, our citizens could not return home. And in such cases, it is necessary to act on the basis of the consideration that these are our citizens. The United States has an ideal model of behavior in such situations - they first take their citizens to their territory, and then deal with them (or do not deal with them, as often happened in Iraq). There is another version of the situation - if a PMC is hired by a corporation. Then it turns out that the employing company should bear the responsibility.

Our citizens Roman Zabolotny and Georgy Tsurkanov are now held captive by ISIS (banned on the territory of the Russian Federation). What happened to them is not known - exactly the same as the way they got to Syria. Perhaps if PMCs were legalized in Russia, then the fate of adventurers would have turned out differently.

"We have a chance to jump on a departing train"

In the West, PMCs have long been familiar organizations. It is quite realistic to look at how they are arranged, what tasks they perform and how they live. A former employee of a Western PMC, who asked not to be named, told MK about his service.

Whose company was it?

- This is a British company.

— Was it a general company or specialized in something specific?

- We were engaged only in the protection of ships. The company specializes in this.

- Compared to official structures, did PMCs pay more?

— I can’t judge everyone, but when I came there in 2010, our salary was quite large — $10,000 a month. Well, then, if you remember the situation with piracy, our type of service was in demand. The pirates were poorly armed, and only a few people on the ship were enough to protect it. At that time, the majority of the company's employees were citizens of Western Europe. There were many British and French.

However, after some time, the pirates' weapons became more modern, and they got the opportunity to go to sea. But by this point, there were enough companies in the market that competed for orders. So gradually the salary began to fall. First, it was cut by 2 times - and the most qualified personnel began to leave the company, but from those who wished from countries of Eastern Europe, from the Balkans, Ukraine there was no end. They fought so-so, but were undemanding. Then the money became even half as much, and that's when I left.

— Is it necessary to regulate the activities of PMCs in Russia?

- I believe that if the phenomenon takes place, then the legal framework must be adjusted to fit it. In Russia, as far as I understand, everything that is not explicitly prohibited is allowed. Therefore, some security companies appear, which in essence are PMCs, at least their range of services is approximately similar. But they operate in the so-called gray zone. If the draft law is drafted correctly, the functions of PMCs, their duties and rights are clearly defined, then there will be no problems with this. Plus, this is an injection into the state's economy - they will pay taxes.

— Are you aware of the situation with the Moran Group in 2012? In your opinion, in such conflicts, are PMC employees primarily citizens of the country or mercenaries?

“It is very strange that it took so long to free the people. It is clear that such situations are quite real, but official contracts are concluded for this. Whether this document was in the hands of the detainees is unknown. However, it could well be proof that people did not just come here with weapons to kill civilians, but that they are performing a specific mission at the request of the country's government or a large company. But if the incident has already occurred, then the state whose citizens find themselves in such a situation should, in my opinion, make every effort to ensure that they return home as soon as possible. And only then deal with them according to internal laws. More slippery situation with Iraq and Academy (that's what Blackwater is now called). There was a violation of international law, humanitarian law, civilians were killed, who did not pose a danger to PMC employees. In this case, this conflict is already, in fact, an interstate one, and the International Tribunal should deal with it.

— Do we have a chance to catch up with the West in terms of development of PMCs?

“I think we have every chance. We have excellent military specialists, many of those who have real combat experience, but for some reason cannot serve in the Armed Forces or have been transferred to the reserve - why not give people the opportunity to somehow share their experience. Figuratively speaking, there is a chance to jump into the outgoing train.

Modern peacekeeping operations cannot be imagined without the participation of private military companies, which, together with the regular contingent of national armies, are equal subjects of these missions. According to military experts, the role of such companies in world conflicts will increase over time, as evidenced by the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In these states, PMCs perform the functions of the police. In addition, their participation in operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, in the zones of Western Macedonia and Southern Serbia was very active.

Private military companies- these are not only small firms, but also large corporations that offer advice, as well as services for the implementation of combat missions in war conditions. They were first discussed during the Second World War. Over time, as a result of the geopolitical changes that occurred after the end of the Cold War, their role in the armed forces of many world states only increased. At the moment, there are more than 3 thousand such companies in the world, operating in more than 60 countries around the world.

Private military companies have received especially active development since the early 90s of the twentieth century, turning into profitable business. They are active in many African countries, such as Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia. In total, about 90 private companies operate on the continent, 80 of which are located in Angola, performing military tasks to protect Western oil companies. The government of this state not only does not prohibit their activities, but also requires them to ensure the safety of official authorities.

This only plays into the hands of PMCs, who can work legally and also maintain small private troops armed with aircraft and heavy military equipment. There are also a large number of companies that deal with the protection of personnel and property. They generally do not take part in hostilities and prefer to call themselves private security companies. At the same time, it becomes practically impossible to distinguish such functions from the performance of military tasks if their implementation takes place during armed conflicts.

The conduct of hostilities in the territories of Afghanistan and Iraq contributed to the growth in the number of private military companies that received direct orders from the governments of the United States of America, Great Britain and the World Health Organization, as well as UN agencies (UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR). In addition, contracts were offered to these companies by the new governments of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as big number companies that carried out their activities in the territories of these states, in particular, those involved in transportation, oil production, energy and water supply.

Thus, any state, an organization of an international or regional level, various agencies and even individuals can conclude a contract with a PMC for the provision of services. Moreover, large private military companies can enter into contracts with smaller firms on the principle of subcontracting.

A characteristic feature of PMCs is the absence of problems with personnel, since the average salary for officers is about 2-3 thousand dollars, for pilots - about 7 thousand, and for instructors - about 2.5 thousand dollars. The amount of salary depends on the experience of the person, as well as on the region where it is necessary to act. In addition, all employees receive insurance. According to official figures, the average annual income of such a company is from 25 to 40 million dollars.

Very often, such companies recruit veterans of the Foreign Legion, although, for example, in Iraq, certain difficulties arose due to the policy of the French government, despite the fact that the French company Groupe ENC made its way to this market thanks to foreign legionnaires.

Among the most successful and large companies of this specialization, the American MPRI should be singled out., which has been acting together with others for many years, fulfilling the instructions not only of its governments, but also of the UN. And since PMC employees are mostly professionals who are able to solve the combat operational tasks of those who pay, Washington takes a number of specific diplomatic steps to protect them, even if in the course of these tasks they violate international agreements.

The activities of PMCs are controlled by Western intelligence agencies, primarily British and American. Moreover, since these companies cannot independently resist the enemy, which is superior in terms of weapons, they enlist the support of military special units in advance. Such cooperation is also possible because the firms employ veterans of these military units, as well as provide a field for activities for active members of the special forces.

This is a mutually beneficial cooperation, since the company receives highly qualified specialists, and those, in turn, receive decent wages for their work. So, in the army, a soldier receives from 1 to 4 thousand dollars a month, while for one day of work in a PMC he can earn from 250 to 1 thousand dollars.

Companies often offer their assistance in the use of high technologies, since the army cannot afford to adequately train specialists in this industry, just as it cannot provide proper career growth. Sometimes employees of companies compensate for the lack of a particular unit.

According to experts, the use of such PMCs can be very useful to the United Nations and other international organizations, since their deployment on the national territory of any of the states causes much less political tension than regular troops.

Today, PMCs provide their services in the recruitment of personnel of the contingent of American troops, the protection of the Baghdad airport, the Iraqi energy system, oil fields, American embassies and the President of Afghanistan, escorting UN convoys in Afghanistan and Iraq, training the Iraqi army, monitoring prisons, demining , fire protection, logistics, aerial reconnaissance and protection of ships from pirates.

The largest private military companies are the already mentioned MPRI, Cellogg, Brown and Root, Blackwater, Cube Apple and Keyshnl, AirScan, DynCorp and the British-American Halo Trust.

The MPRI company, which was founded in 1987, is engaged in the selection of weapons and their purchases, provides advice on reforming the armed forces, develops doctrines, and conducts military exercises. It also provides support to the operations of the rapid reaction forces. The company cooperates with the US government, the CIA and the military. This company has at its disposal the largest database of military industry specialists in America.

Its employees more than once took part in local conflicts, for example, they provided their services to the Colombian government, trained the Croatian army, assisted Albanian militants in Macedonia and the authorities of Liberia. So, in 1995, the Croatian army successfully carried out Operation Storm to destroy Serbian separatists, which was planned and carried out by PMC employees.

At this stage of time, this company actively supports America's policy in Africa, where it takes part in the development of programs to create rapid reaction forces for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in Africa. Forces of the same company in Nigeria carried out a military reform. On the territory of Georgia, the PMC is engaged in the selection and purchase of weapons, reforming the armed forces, training soldiers and officers, and also participating in the development of military doctrine, manuals and programs.

Blackwater, which in February 2009 was named XE Services, was founded by former American special forces soldier E. Prince. It's small but well armed private army, which includes about 21 thousand people. In 2003, employees of this company appeared in Iraq in order to ensure the safety of P. Bremer, the head of the civil administration. However, they did not act in the best way, which led to a significant undermining of their reputation. The success of the company can be judged by the amount of annual income. If in 2001 the amount was not over a million dollars, then in 2007 it exceeded one billion dollars.

Cube Apple and Cash International actively cooperates with the Georgian government, advising the military department, developing plans for the reform of the Georgian army and the military doctrine of the state.

AirScan- Another private military company, headed by General Joe Stringham. The scope of the main tasks includes the protection of oil installations in Angola, for which the company sends former military personnel there.

"DynCorp" company is engaged in the provision of services for the protection of facilities, including American embassies in a number of states, maintenance of US military facilities abroad.

The main task British-American PMC "Halo Trust" is limited to providing support for the clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance. It was founded in 1988 and financed by the governments of the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Germany. The company has close ties with British and American intelligence agencies. Its branches are located in the territories of Afghanistan, Angola, Vietnam, Cambodia, Georgia, Sudan, Nicaragua, Mozambique.

In the late 90s, this company also had a representative office in Chechnya, where it trained saboteurs-bombers from among the militants. In Georgia, the company trains the military in combat engineering, sabotage, and reconnaissance.

Private military company "Kellogg, Brown and Root" on behalf of the Pentagon, it provides support to US and NATO troops, supplies the US army in Iraq, and restores the oil complex.

The US Department of Defense Intelligence Service realized as early as 1997 that in the coming decades, private military companies would become the main tool for implementing US government policies abroad. Therefore, the military department began to actively involve various commercial structures in the performance of military tasks. For 10 years, the military department has concluded more than 3 thousand contracts with civilian firms. Thus, more than half of the provision of military aviation training and maintenance of equipment and missile defense systems is carried out by private companies.

Companies that were engaged in providing military services to the government were called "privatized military firms", "private military companies", but the most established in military literature the term "military contractors" is generally accepted, the Russian equivalent of which is the term "contractors".

All contractor companies are divided into several groups depending on the scope of services: supplier firms, providing firms and consulting firms. Most of them have close relationships with large holdings and corporations, as well as with the military department. This contributes not only to the rapid conclusion of contracts, but also guarantees solid state support.

A common feature of all military contractors is the fact that they all started by providing services to the ministries of defense of their states, and only then entered the international market. According to rough estimates, today it is estimated at 150 billion dollars against 100 billion in 2001. The increase in the number and cost of contracts is primarily due to military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In recent years, the use of the services of private military companies has expanded significantly. Particular attention should be paid to military intelligence. If earlier it was considered especially secret and protected, today the situation has changed radically. The appearance of drones in service with the army forced the government to turn to contractors for help. PMCs were also involved in collecting information about the political situation inside Iraq and the composition of the resistance forces, their leaders and supplies.
The military department was also forced to resort to the help of private companies, since it did not have a sufficient number of specialists who could qualitatively use the worldwide global network to collect information about terrorist organizations.

However, despite the fact that the involvement of private military companies allowed the government to solve a number of problems, it could not save it from the appearance of others. This is, first of all, the almost complete lack of accountability, the impossibility of monitoring and auditing their activities. In addition, it is also hushed up about how much the government managed to save by attracting military contractors to cooperate.

And if at the beginning of the 1990s the amount of 6 billion a year was called, then according to the calculations of the control and financial department, this amount is overstated by 75 percent. Although this problem has not yet been solved, at the moment it does not matter so much, since private military companies are able to solve great amount a wide variety of military tasks in zones of wars and conflicts.

It becomes quite clear that the process of privatization of military functions in Western states is becoming irreversible, since the existence of wars and conflicts will provoke a demand for military services, especially since there is a tendency to reduce the armed forces in the world. The military-industrial complex was forced to adapt to new conditions.
Thus, we can say with confidence that in the near future the privatization of military affairs will acquire a sustainable character in most Western states. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that even today almost no world army can carry out a military operation without the involvement of private structures.

See the world, visit unusual countries, get to know wonderful people and shoot them, earning a lot of money along the way - the work of a mercenary in a private military company (PMC) is very attractive at first glance. But in fact, everything is much more complicated: some volunteers chasing a long ruble can return home in coffins, while others do not smell gunpowder at all. Special correspondent Alexandra Wigraiser, on condition of anonymity, spoke with an employee of one of the world's largest private military companies and found out why the semi-legendary Wagner PMC cannot be called a private military company, how the "soldiers of fortune" live and what they are afraid of.

Lenta.ru: What do you know about Wagner PMC? How and for whom does it work? Why is their existence allowed in Russia?

All information on the surface. Everyone knows where their Moscow office is located. Yes, this is the structure of Evgeny Prigozhin. Why is this private military company (PMC) allowed to operate? It's hard for me to understand. I can assume that it's all about the relationship of a particular person with a particular president. This practice has no world analogues.

If people are fighting for the country, then these should not be “green”, “yellow” or “blue” men, but military personnel. If people are involved in private security, training or risk analysis, then it could be a private military company. But PMCs cannot fully participate in hostilities. Because PMC employers and the state can have completely different goals. The state, for example, sets some global goals, and a particular businessman is interested in capturing an oil plant. And from whom? The Kurds!

What's wrong with the Kurds? Aren't they just as much of an adversary as any other in Syria and Iraq?

Kurds - the enemy?! Trust me, anyone who has worked in Iraq is praying for the Kurds. Iraqi Kurdistan, for example, looks like an oasis in the middle of the desert. This is an amazing place! The sweetest, kindest people without any signs of Islamic fundamentalism. Girls on the streets wear T-shirts and Capri pants, alcohol is sold everywhere, whiskey is openly advertised on the street! These are the most normal, most adequate, most rational allies of any adequate forces in the Middle East.

Offending the Kurds, fighting the Kurds is the worst thing imaginable. Moreover, the Kurds have a great attitude towards Russia, they love it. And now the activity of some chefs leads to the fact that the whole of Kurdistan (the Syrian, Turkish, Iraqi and Iranian parts of it) simply turn away from the partner. Come to Kurdistan and see: they work there, there are Russian guys from PMCs. They do normal work, get normal money. There is cooperation with local security companies. They do a good job there without any "law on PMCs", without presidential chefs.

Kurds have a great attitude towards Russia. In Syria, at the suggestion of some close-minded supply manager, a political crisis is taking place, hundreds of Russian people are dying. This is insanity that needs to be stopped. I have worked in this area all my life and I can say what is happening behind the sign of "PMC Wagner" - this is not normal, this should not exist.

Is it possible, in this case, to call "PMC Wagner", so to speak, the Russian army in a different "clothes"?

This is not the Russian army. There is after all the well-known word "mercenaries". Any army officer is limited by certain laws and command hierarchies. And the Wagner… They just don't have the brakes that a huge inertial war machine has. Any order in the official structure would go through a huge number of instances - yes, stupid, but instances. And the Russian army is not going to fight the Kurds. Then no.

Another sad side: the personnel of the Wagner, to put it mildly, is of a completely different quality. And further on the points: the equipment and weapons are disgusting, the level of training is low, the effectiveness of command also leaves much to be desired - people are constantly dying there. This is well known in our circles. And therefore the attitude of personnel towards them Russian soldiers and officers appropriate.

But there is another point that cannot be ignored. When a Russian pilot dies, he is buried with honors, broadcast on television, you write panegyrics and obituaries in your newspapers, how he, they say, good guy was. And it is right. But here - through stupidity, through monstrous stupidity, more than a hundred people die. And what do they write about them? Have you seen this "troll factory"? “Ah, mercenaries, why feel sorry for them” - this is some kind of fantastic level of hypocrisy, when ordinary guys from the outback are sent to die God knows where for money, and then they are buried in unmarked graves.

And if they were contract soldiers in the army, would it be better?

Certainly. First, it's a completely different attitude. Secondly, the army provides a number of bonuses. This includes citizenship, pension, and much more. And most importantly - the status of a legitimate participant in hostilities, as well as some kind of immunity from local laws. soldier Russian army will not be handed over to a Syrian court, a soldier of the French foreign legion will not be handed over to a court in Mali.

And the PMC employee is a civilian. If Wagner employees had full military status, I personally would have nothing against it. For example, a man dies, and the mother can say to his child: “Son, your dad was a soldier, and he died as a hero, fought against terrorists.” Now what? Son, your dad didn’t know who did what, they didn’t tell us, he died when the dumb-headed oligarch wanted to wring out the oil field.

There was a precedent in history when the UAE hired about two thousand Colombians for the war in Yemen. And they even hid - like the Russian authorities - but they took them into the army, paid a very decent salary. And these were official soldiers in the service. So no, "PMC Wagner" is what in Russian is called "an illegal armed group", which is not clear to whom it obeys and is capable of provoking a huge international conflict due to the stupidity of its commanders. As a person who has been working in this field almost all his life, I support its development in every possible way, but such formations are harmful not only for the industry, but also for the image of Russia.

Why do you say that Wagner has a lower level contingent than the army?

Look, every person in our field personally knows someone who serves there, or someone who refused their offer. But nobody does not know a volunteer who would be denied admission by Wagner PMC. They take everyone: people with a criminal record, with alcohol addiction - everyone in a row.

It is enough to talk with their employees to understand: they are not only up to the level of the Special Operations Forces, they are not always up to ordinary construction battalions. Neither by the level of education, nor by the level of military training, nor by motivation. Again: I have great respect for those who work there. But let's be honest: professionals don't go there. Such a “wonderful” job, such an “amazing” opportunity to die even without a guarantee that your corpse will at least be returned home, they do not need. None of the Russians I know - those who worked in Iraq at the beginning of the 2000s, who are now working with Gazprom in Kurdistan - did not go there, because everyone understands that this, as they say, is a bad idea.

It happens that a private company conducts full-fledged fighting, and even with such losses? According to various sources, there could be up to two hundred dead among the mercenaries of the Wagner group.

Absolutely not. It is impossible to even imagine that now some Western PMC, an official company, is fighting. This is absolute absurdity. There was a precedent with Executive Outcomes who participated in several civil wars in Africa, but that was in the early 90s. Since then the world has changed.

South Africans fought in Nigeria a few years ago. But some large international companies were not involved in this. This is a specific situation when specific people are recruited for a specific job, whose activities are initially completely outside the legal field. Therefore, Wagner is, of course, not a PMC. You can call it whatever you like, but in the Russian criminal code it is called an "illegal armed formation." I have nothing against the people who work there - I understand their motivation, I respect them as professionals, but you need to understand that this situation is not normal. Nothing like this can happen in any Western PMC.

Doesn't Wagner PMC work in the Russian legal field?

Of course no. On what basis are people given weapons, on what basis do they conduct military operations? I'm not a Syrian lawyer, I don't know what the laws are. But, in my opinion, the “Wagnerites” do not work either within the framework of Russian law or within the framework of the Syrian one. This is, as you like to say, "an education that has no analogues in the world."

But why do people go there? A job with a very high risk, with the possibility of getting a corny bullet in the forehead or a term for mercenarism?

I have not lived in Russia for a long time, but it is obvious that there is only one answer - despair. The economic situation in your country, especially in the regions, is difficult. Many people have served in the army and believe that they can't do anything else. They don't really know how to serve. But at least they identify themselves as great warriors. Plus, you need to understand that a certain militaristic pumping and propaganda has been going on in society for many, many years.

So desperation, lack of money and qualifications, extremely high housing prices, lack of affordable loans - these are all factors. Even with such losses, I'm afraid there will be a lot of people who want to get a job at Wagner. Especially from small towns. Look at the well-known lists of casualties: there is almost no one from Moscow or St. Petersburg. These are all small towns where people have lost hope long ago. And the amount of 200 thousand rubles that a dishwasher in Britain receives makes people forget about everything and go nowhere, spitting on the instinct of self-preservation.

Well, with the "Wagnerites" is understandable. And what about normal PMCs? In the Russian media, mercenaries are portrayed as heroes rushing into battle on the most dangerous sectors of the front. How true is this image? What do private military companies actually do?

Completely not true. For a long time there have been no bearded guys with tattoos, dissecting in jeeps through the desert and firing at anything from a machine gun. 80-90 percent of business is absolutely standard stuff. It is necessary to hang cameras, look at monitors, stretch barbed wire, provide drivers, technical intelligence equipment, and engage in analytics. The "bearded thugs" used to represent PMC employees are a minority, and a vanishing minority in this business. In fact, the work of PMCs is the work of watchmen, absolutely devoid of romanticism.

In general, there is a stereotype that the main work of a private military company is armed guards. But this should not be so: this situation has developed only because at one time Iraq and Afghanistan simply did not have a capable government and crowds of adventurers with weapons gathered there.

We have a lot of talk about the need for a law on PMCs, which would normalize their activities ... These conversations make me laugh. In America, which everyone nods at, there is no separate law on private military companies, and they do a pretty good job. I don’t follow what is happening in Russia at all, but I often see what Russian journalists write about PMCs, and I laugh at it. I was taken aback by the recent situation in Syria.

Firstly, people died there, and secondly, everyone immediately began to tell: they say, everything is fine, these are mercenaries and why feel sorry for them. So. All this is said by clowns who have no idea what a PMC is and how it all works. Because nothing like what happened to Wagner PMC employees in Syria could physically happen either in an American, or in a British, or even in an Afghan company.

Let's just open our eyes and look at what a PMC is. I will decipher the abbreviation for those who do not know. PMC is first and foremost company is a private military company. An indispensable condition for its existence is the legality of activity. Now the most important and most needed person for PMCs is not a thug with a cleaver at the ready, but an approval manager - a specialist who monitors that all company activities comply with local laws.

And a PMC, by definition, cannot work outside the legal field, outside the law, because then it is no longer a company. This is a criminal organization, a gang - anything but a PMC. And when we now work in unstable regions and read the stories of various Russian propagandists, it first becomes funny, and then scary.

And hard mode is usually set?

In general, everything is maximally exhaustively described by the contract, which is signed in each individual case. But the main thing: any employee is completely subject to the laws of the country where he works. In fact, this is a four-component system: first, local laws, then the laws of the customer country, then the laws of the country in which the PMC is registered, then the contract. Each layer - additional restrictions.

Now imagine how rigidly this norms any activity, how great is the role of lawyers who must understand all conflicts, what bureaucratic colossus needs to be done in order to start fulfilling contractual obligations.

After all, even a contract is not an agreement on a page where it is written that company "A" protects the employees of plant "B" and there are two signatures. This is a huge, eight-hundred-page Talmud, which puts the performer in an extremely rigid framework. It even talks about standards of behavior, about sexual harassment!

But in Russia everything is still the same. Just one light from said: "During the second assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah, Blackwater played a key role, in fact, acting first as a barrage detachment, and then as the main force of the breakthrough." Usually I laugh when I read this, but then I wanted to find this person, take him by the scruff of the neck and ask: “Clown, what are you talking about ?!”

However, for some reason, this “four-component system” could not save Iraqi civilians from the tragedy when employees of the American company Blackwater shot civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad in 2007.

Right. I will not touch on what was there - this is a topic for a separate conversation. But contrary to the tales in the press, the participants in these events were tried, and in 2014 four were imprisoned. One for life, three others were given 30 years each. This is not an isolated case: the British are sitting in India, who simply accidentally swam into Indian territorial waters.

Under these conditions, it is ridiculous to say that PMC employees are "above the law." On the contrary, they are not only forced to comply with all laws, they regularly come up with new restrictions. Now even the language is being revised. For example, the term "rules for opening fire" is abandoned because it sounds too belligerent, it is replaced by the neutral "rules on the use of force."

As I said, the space for activity is constantly shrinking. In 2004, there was complete freedom in Iraq, but now Baghdad is doing everything so that only local mercenaries remain in the country. Now you can freely operate in absolutely non-existent countries such as Syria.

The conversations of our deputies and other experts that Russian PMCs will work somewhere will be frankly confused, but there is a complete misunderstanding of the situation and its context. In a few years, foreigners will remain only on large projects: the protection of embassies, key infrastructure, and then everything, without exception, will go to the locals.

Is hiring local a whim or a necessity?

I will give a simple example. Both in Iraq and in Afghanistan, PMCs always have local drivers. Why? It's simple: if a citizen of another country got into an accident or, God forbid, crushed someone, then they will simply sue him, or even put him in prison for decades. Therefore, they take a local, so that if something happens, they can disown him.

I remember only two exceptions. The period from 2003 to 2006 in Iraq, and from 2001 to 2004 in Afghanistan. Then it was possible to be above local laws, simply because they did not exist in fact. You flew in, there were no visas and passport control, you received a machine gun right on the runway and went to the villa with full “immunity”. But then in Iraq, for example, there was no state. There was the American ambassador Paul Bremer, the head of the occupying government and, in fact, the supreme ruler of Iraq. In that particular historical period, PMC employees could indeed enjoy certain immunity.

Now the situation is fundamentally different. Without permits, licenses do not take a step. They banned the use of the PKM (Kalashnikov machine gun), then they took away the RPK (Kalashnikov light machine gun), we even have two SVD rifles ( sniper rifle Dragunov) were seized. They left the usual Kalashnikovs and pistols. Only local contractors help out - they have access to government offices, they can avoid prosecution for minor violations, they know the language, local realities. And hiring them is cheaper - banal business logic. They can be paid pennies.

The only exception is US government contracts, which only recruit US citizens, because only they can issue the necessary form of security clearance. Here they have all the employees - Americans, even those who stand at the gate. Only due to this there is some kind of work, because it is simply impossible to hire a foreigner there. If there is no security clearance requirement, then locals will be hired. True, their qualifications, as a rule, are almost at zero.

We see the results, remember the recent attack on a hotel in Kabul (then, as a result of an attack on a hotel populated mainly by Western officials, 43 people died - note "Lenta.ru"). It is obvious that this hotel is the number one target for all the villains, but even it was guarded by local clowns, who fled at the first sound of gunfire.

But a local employee needs to understand: you live there, you have a family. Today you defend some foreigner for money, and tomorrow your family will be slaughtered by the Taliban for this. So even if you are a professional, there is not much to expect from you. The only exception is the Kurds. Here they are really beautiful. Firstly, the society there has a positive attitude towards foreigners. Foreigners bring money, not war. No one will hurt your family if you guard foreigners. Secondly, many of them are really literate guys, they know the materiel, they speak English well. It is a pleasure to work with them.

What is the current ratio of "militants" and organizers, managers, analysts in companies?

It all depends on the specific contract. But in reality, in many countries where there is a severe need for security, it is simply impossible to work with weapons. Nigeria is monstrous scary place, but whoever you are, you can't work with weapons there. Mexico, where the cartels kidnap 50 people every day, you can't. The only way out is if an armed group of Mexicans will work with you, and at a critical moment you will be able to grab a rifle from their hands and begin to administer justice.

But in fact, always under any contract, the number of armed foreigners is less than half, and maybe none at all. Now it’s much easier to hire a local to run around with a machine gun. And the authorities will be grateful. As a result, we have a huge number of people who want to work and a very, very small and ever-decreasing number of vacancies.

How big is the market for private military companies?

The total industry in the world is 171 billion dollars. But it is already divided among very large corporations. All of the significant companies in this area over the past four years have been bought by multinational security players who don't know how to operate in high-risk situations.

Now in the West there are practically no small and medium-sized players in this activity. The market consists of international corporations and local regional contractors. The reality is that the market for armed guards, the one that you journalists love to talk about, is by no means growing.

On the contrary, it is decreasing every year. And the reason is very simple: no normal state will allow the presence of foreigners with weapons on their soil. How often do you see armed citizens of other states in Russia? Foreign guards with machine guns, pistols that protect someone? No! Any state, even such failed countries as Iraq or Afghanistan, is now bringing foreign PMCs into such a narrow framework that work becomes almost impossible.

Who do PMCs usually work for? To the state?

It's a delusion. Private companies mainly fulfill orders of private business. It is impossible even to imagine that a Western or even an Afghan or Iraqi large company would work only with the state, only for the state, and even in this form, openly participating in hostilities. Although state contracts are always very profitable - it is either the protection of representatives of a particular state, or the protection of embassies, which is very monetary.

What do states usually entrust to private military companies?

Intelligence analysis, risk analysis, protection of embassies and diplomatic representatives, security of various facilities, if we are talking about American contracts. Once there was a case when he instructed the PMC to guard the corps of military engineers of the American army - there were not enough forces in that region. Stories that some political assassinations are entrusted to contract soldiers are, of course, fairy tales.

Cannon fodder, assault squads - this is not about PMCs. It was all in the 60s-90s and ended with Sandline and their coup attempt in Papua New Guinea. This was probably one of the last times someone tried to hire a PMC for some semblance of hostilities.

Photo: Jean-Christophe Kahn / Reuters

But he was lucky to some extent: Denard did not die in prison just because he had Alzheimer's disease. By the 90s, all state games with mercenaries were over. The old man was dragged through the courts until he died, and no old merit helped. So in Russia, as often happens, they decided to pick up a forgotten trend.

But can't we say that Syria is the same failed state, like Iraq during the period of occupation by the Americans?

Essentially no. There's a funny twist here. If you look from the position of Russia, then this is a fully established country with a government and laws. beautiful state where happy people they idolize the president, they are devoted to him with all their hearts, they are very glad that the war with the Islamic State (banned in the Russian Federation - note "Lenta.ru") is over.

That is, there is no such thing that we came, threw Assad off the throne, put our supreme ruler. No, we supposedly respect Syrian laws and their authority. But if power and law are when "Assad allowed" another state to form illegal armed formations on its territory and use them in a war, then this is just an example of a failed state.

It is unlikely that Syrian law allows the creation of illegal military formations on its territory and the conduct of independent military operations by them. However, I am not a lawyer and I am not going to meddle in Syria.

For many "Wagnerites" the war is just a way to make money. There is information that employees receive three thousand dollars for a month of active hostilities and half of this amount during their stay at the base. How close are these numbers to reality, and how do they compare with typical salaries in the industry?

Let's put it this way: they are close to reality. People from there talk about such amounts. But in general, you need to understand that even in hot spots, it’s not every day that evil terrorists with knives break into your base. The lower the risk level, the bigger idiots you can hire for this job. Therefore, often, when it is possible to hire a person, let's say, with low salary expectations, they will hire him.

It started back in the 2000s, when Chileans were hired for a penny, then it came to Ugandans. I worked with them in one African country - these comrades cannot even shoot normally from a machine gun. If there is an opportunity, and the risks are small, they always hire the cheapest ones.

Therefore, in the field of maritime protection, where everything started with salaries of six hundred dollars or six hundred pounds a day, salaries have fallen to ridiculous figures. Recently I saw an advertisement where Ukrainians were offered a job on the terms: 30 days at sea for $800. Discussed this in Iraq with a colleague from India and he, to tell the truth, almost died of laughter. Because it's funny money. But the Ukrainians go for it. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about some kind of average market wage. It very often falls because they hire locals or representatives of poor countries for pennies, including Romanians, Gurkhas, Indians, Ukrainians, Ugandans.

There are more prestigious contracts, where very high requirements are put forward for personnel. In this case, certain standards of payment are implied: for serious quality work, you can get about 10 thousand dollars a month. Few rise above this bar.

Is to compete for high level so necessary?

Recently there was a tender for the protection of the Australian embassy in one fairly "good country". So: just to show up, you need huge investments at the very beginning. Yes, they pay very decently for such a contract, but the problem of Russian companies is that there is no such business in this area that would be ready to go all the way and invest real money. There was an excellent example of the LUKOM-A company, which recruited people and was going to go to work in Iraq. They were simply not given a license to operate.

No one in Iraq or Afghanistan needs new players. They rule there local companies and the largest international corporations that can afford it. So the development of the Russian segment of PMCs will depend only on the development of domestic business. Once there is a critical number of projects to secure, the security business will emerge. You need to understand that there is already a need for it, but it is not fully realized.

Look at the most egregious case - the murder of the Russian ambassador in Ankara. Where were his guards? She just wasn't there. She was in Moscow. The division that deals with the security of the diplomatic corps is simply not able to provide protection to everyone who needs it. All countries employ private security specialists for these tasks.

But our state, instead of supporting the development of a normal healthy industry, is engaged in the creation of pocket illegal formations like Wagner. At the same time, Russian diplomatic representatives in countries with a huge level of danger are simply not protected by anyone. If this crazy practice continues, it will continue to cost the lives of Russian diplomats.

Reportedly Ilya Rozhdestvensky, Anton Baev And Polina Rusyaeva in an article on the website RBC "Ghosts of War: How the Russian Private Army Appeared in Syria", the so-called "Wagner group" is actively involved in the Syrian conflict. Its use cost up to 10.3 billion rubles. Our blog provides the text of the investigation.

(c) warfiles.ru

PMCs all over the world are a huge business: “private traders” often replace the armed forces. In Russia they are illegal. But in Syria, a prototype of Russian PMCs - the “Wagner group” was tested, and the authorities are again thinking about legalizing

The military unit on the Molkino farm in the Krasnodar Territory is a sensitive facility. The 10th separate special forces brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Ministry of Defense is stationed here, Gazeta.ru wrote. A few dozen meters from the federal highway "Don" - the first checkpoint on the way to the base. Further, the road forks: to the left - the town belonging to the unit, to the right - the training ground, the guard at the checkpoint explains to the RBC journalist. Behind the landfill is another checkpoint with guards armed with AK-74s. Behind this checkpoint is a camp of a private military company (PMC), according to one of the employees of the military unit.

Archival satellite images from the Google Earth service show that in August 2014 there was no camp yet. It began to function around the middle of 2015, two interlocutors of RBC who worked in this camp and are familiar with its device say. These are two dozen tents under the flag of the USSR, surrounded by a small fence with barbed wire, one of them describes the base. On the territory there are several residential barracks, a watchtower, a point of cynologists, training complex and a parking lot, a private military company employee who has been there describes the base.

This structure does not have an official name, the name of its leader and revenue are not disclosed, and the very existence of the company, perhaps the largest on the market, is not advertised - formally, the activities of PMCs in our country are illegal. RBC magazine figured out what the so-called Wagner PMC is, from what sources and how it is financed, and why the business of private military companies may appear in Russia.

Mercenaries and "private traders"

military man by Russian laws can only work for the state. Mercenary activity is prohibited: for participation in armed conflicts on the territory of another country, the Criminal Code provides for up to seven years in prison (Article 359), for recruiting, training, financing a mercenary, “as well as using him in an armed conflict or hostilities” - up to 15 years . There are no other laws regulating the sphere of PMCs in Russia.

The situation is different in the world: the principles of operation of private military and security companies are fixed in the “Montreux Document” adopted in the fall of 2008. It was signed by 17 countries, including the US, UK, China, France and Germany (Russia is not among them). The document allows people who are not in the public service to provide services for the armed protection of facilities, maintenance of combat complexes, training of military personnel, etc.

In a UN report published in 2011, the organization's analysts estimated the annual volume of the private military services market at $20 billion to $100 billion, the non-profit organization War on Want in 2016 at $100–400 billion. The figures are very approximate: for example, the US commission on military contracts, to which the UN refers in its report on the rise in human rights violations by mercenaries, in 2011 noted that at the end of the financial year, the cost of contracts with private military companies in Iraq and Afghanistan alone will exceed $ 206 billion. in the world - G4S Plc - in 2015 amounted to $ 10.5 billion: in Russia this is comparable only with the same indicator for Bashneft and a third more than for Norilsk Nickel.

The use of "private traders" is typical for Western countries, where the aversion to large losses is more high, explains CEO Center for Strategic Assessments and Forecasts Sergey Grinyaev. Large casualties among the personnel of the armed forces may influence the decision to stop the operation and withdraw troops, as was the case with the special forces participating in the UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia, the expert says. In 1993, during the urban battle in Mogadishu, the Americans lost 18 people, about 80 soldiers were wounded, one was captured. This accelerated the withdrawal of the US contingent from the country. Such situations can be avoided if we are talking not about the regular army, but about private military companies, Grinyaev is sure.

Reducing losses through the use of PMC fighters is a common practice used, for example, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2008, the number of employees of private companies in these countries has exceeded the number of US military personnel, and since at least 2010, “private workers” have accounted for the main percentage of those killed and wounded, according to the Private Security Monitor project of the University of Denver (USA).

Difficulties of legalization

The latest attempt to legalize PMCs in Russia was made in March 2016, when Just Russia deputies Gennady Nosovko and Oleg Mikheev submitted a draft law on private military security organizations to the State Duma. The document called the goals of such activities "participation in ensuring national security through the performance and provision of military security work and services", the protection of Russia's interests outside the country, the promotion of Russian PMCs to world markets, etc. At the same time, according to the bill, such companies were supposed to be prohibited from “directly participating in armed conflicts ... on the territory of any state.”

licensing of PMCs was supposed to be done by the Ministry of Defense, to monitor the implementation of the law - by the FSB and the Prosecutor General's Office.

The government opposed the adoption of the law, noting in its response that the bill contradicts part 5 of article 13 of the Constitution: “The creation and activities of public associations, the goals or actions of which are aimed at ... undermining the security of the state, the creation of armed formations, are prohibited.” The deputies were also not supported by their colleagues on the profile committee, who pointed out that the duties of such companies are not delimited from the functions of private security companies (PSCs), departmental security and national guard troops.

The final decision on the document was not made - its consideration was postponed until autumn, but the authors of the bill themselves decided to withdraw it. The spring document is Nosovko's third attempt to legalize PMCs in Russia, while the biography of the deputy himself has nothing to do with the Armed Forces: except that in 2014 he was awarded the medal of the Ministry of Defense "For strengthening the military community." The deputy hopes that he will be able to finalize the document and submit it again in the autumn. In a conversation with RBC magazine, Nosovko said that when discussing the bill at round tables with the participation of relevant departments, the security forces generally supported the initiative, but asked to correct various shortcomings. “There is no sharp denial, but, for example, representatives of the GRU and the FSB say that now it is not worth heating up the situation and opening Pandora's box,” Nosovko said.

The authorities do not intend to abandon the idea of ​​legalizing PMCs, says an FSB officer familiar with the situation, and confirms the interlocutor in the Ministry of Defense: the issue is being worked out, they say. Despite the absence of a law, there are private military companies in Russia. They perform the same work as their foreign counterparts: from escorting ships passing through the Gulf of Aden near the Somali coast, where pirates operate, to guarding facilities in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The Russian PMC market is extremely small in size, explains Boris Chikin, co-owner of the private military company Moran Security Group (MSG). There are no real military companies in Russia, insists Oleg Krinitsyn, owner of another large PMC, RSB-Group. Domestic firms conduct their main activities abroad. For example, employees of another large PMC - "Center Antiterror" - in the 2000s carried out orders in Iraq, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and other countries.

To facilitate work abroad, Russian PMCs register subsidiaries in offshore companies. In particular, the main founder of MSG with a 50% share is Neova Holdings Ltd (British Virgin Islands). The owners of Russian PMCs do not disclose the financial side of their business, there are no reports of firms in the SPARK-Interfax database and foreign registries.

"Special Tasks"

Russian troops did not participate in a full-scale ground operation in Syria, but in March 2016, the commander of the Russian group in the country, General Alexander Dvornikov, said that certain tasks were carried out by fighters on the ground. “I will not hide the fact that units of our special operations forces [highly mobile troops of the Ministry of Defense] are also operating in Syria,” Dvornikov said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta. According to him, the military carried out additional reconnaissance of objects for air strikes, was engaged in guiding aircraft to targets in remote areas and solved "other special tasks."

"Special tasks" in Syria were performed by Sergei Chupov, who died in this country in February 2016, his acquaintance told RBC. According to him, Chupov served in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but resigned in the early 2000s. This information was confirmed to RBC by another acquaintance of Chupov. The representative of the Ministry of Defense did not comment on the information about the deceased. The military prosecutor's office of the Southern District, in response to a request from RBC, said that Chupov was not on the lists of the Russian group in Syria. RBC's interlocutor, who knew the soldier closely, claims that the veteran of the internal troops, who went through both Chechen campaigns, was in Syria as an employee of a private military company known as the "Wagner group".

“Wagner” is the call sign of the head of the detachment, in fact his name is Dmitry Utkin, and he used to serve in the Pskov brigade of the GRU, four interlocutors of RBC who are personally acquainted with Wagner say. In 2013, Utkin, who by that time had left the ranks of the Armed Forces, left for the Middle East as part of a group of fighters recruited by the Slavic Corps company. This is a subsidiary of Slavonic Corps Limited registered in Hong Kong, Kommersant wrote. The company was entered in the register of legal entities in 2012, and Russian citizen Anton Andreev is listed as its director.

The leaders of the Slavic Corps, Evgeny Sidorov and Vadim Gusev, former managers of the Moran Security Group, promised employees when they were hired that they would guard the oil pipeline and warehouse in Deir ez-Zor, a city in eastern Syria, Kommersant noted and a source told RBC in MSG. Instead of ensuring the security of energy facilities, 267 fighters of the "corps" were ordered to support the rebels near the settlement of As-Sukhna in the province of Homs, RBC's interlocutor notes. Without the necessary equipment and with outdated weapons, they were ambushed by militants of the Islamic State (the organization is banned in Russia). In October 2013, the fighters of the Slavic Corps left Syria.

In January 2015, Sidorov and Gusev were convicted in Russia under the same article 359 of the Criminal Code and received three years in prison. Other participants in the events were not held accountable.

"The Wagner Group"

For the first time, Fontanka wrote about the “Wagner Group” and its participation in the Syrian war in October 2015: citing anonymous sources, the publication claimed that former employees of the “Slavic Corps” were later seen among “polite people” in Crimea during the events of February- March 2014, and a little over a year later - in the south-east of Ukraine, already as an independent detachment. At the end of 2015, The Wall Street Journal wrote about the participation of the “Wagner group” in the battles on the side of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, also citing anonymous sources. In the same article, WSJ journalists spoke about the deaths in the Middle East of nine people from the Wagner Group. The Russian Ministry of Defense called this information "stuffing".

The base in Molkino was equipped shortly after the completion of the active phase of the “Lugansk” operation - in mid-2015, recalls one of the officers who worked in the “Wagner group”. In this camp, the fighters are trained before going to Syria, an FSB officer and one of the fighters who served under the command of Wagner explain to RBC.

The issue of creating full-fledged PMCs in Russia was discussed many times, but a breakthrough in this sense occurred after the Crimean events of 2014, in which the GRU units performed well, said an RBC interlocutor close to this organization. It is the GRU that secretly oversees the “Wagner group,” an officer of the Ministry of Defense and an FSB officer confirmed to RBC, adding that this detachment arose after “the situation in the world worsened.”

In the Middle East, the “Wagner Group” appeared shortly before Russia began officially deploying its bases in the fall of 2015, a Defense Ministry officer says and a source familiar with the operation confirms. In total, almost 2.5 thousand people were located near Latakia and Aleppo, not only the GRU, but also the FSB officers led the operation, he adds.

Officially, no one announced the recruitment to the Wagner squad, but the rumor quickly spread through groups on social networks, whose users were actively interested in “how to get into the Wagner PMC”. There was no shortage of applicants: in 2016, from 1,000 to 1,600 PMC employees were in Syria at the same time, depending on the tension in the situation, says a source familiar with the operation. The Ministry of Defense did not respond to RBC’s request, indeed “citizens who are not serving in the Russian Armed Forces” are fighting in Syria, and is it true that these fighters are being trained at the base in Krasnodar Territory.

Money to the soldiers of the “Wagner group” was paid in cash, they were not officially registered anywhere, and the purchase of weapons and equipment is classified, an officer of the Ministry of Defense explains to RBC and two interlocutors familiar with the operation confirm. According to them, the state and "high-ranking businessmen" took over the expenses. RBC interlocutors refuse to give their names even in an informal conversation with the voice recorders turned off.

Fontanka wrote in the summer of 2016 about the connection of one of the entrepreneurs with the “Wagner group”: the publication claimed that over the past two years, “Wagner” moved around Russia, accompanied by people working for the St. Petersburg restaurateur Evgeny Prigozhin. Surrounded by the commander of the Fontanka PMC, she found the head of the security service of one of Prigozhin's companies, Yevgeny Gulyaev, and his subordinates.

Prigozhin-owned Concord M is one of the main food suppliers for the Administration of the President of Russia, and the Concord food plant serves Moscow schools. Prigozhin's firms are practically monopolists in the capital's school food market, as well as one of the largest service providers for the Ministry of Defense: the companies import food and clean up military units.

For private investors, financing PMCs is a way to prove their loyalty, explains the interlocutor in the Ministry of Defense. For example, for closer cooperation with the military department. RBC magazine found no evidence that Prigozhin's firms provided financial support to PMCs. At the same time, if in 2014 the volume of services provided by companies related to the businessman to the Ministry of Defense and its structures amounted to 575 million rubles, then in 2015 the volume of such contracts reached 68.6 billion rubles, follows from SPARK-Marketing data.

These contracts make up the lion's share of all government contracts that 14 companies received (the connection of most of these firms with Prigozhin can be traced through SPARK-Interfax; the rest of the structures are managed by people who worked with the restaurateur at different times, Fontanka wrote). In 2015, the total volume of tenders they won amounted to 72.2 billion rubles.

Hybrid financing

The cost of maintaining PMCs numbering several thousand people is quite difficult to calculate. The "Wagner Group" does not pay for the rent of buildings and land, two interlocutors of RBC, who are familiar with the organization of the camp, say. The state and private divisions of the camp in the Krasnodar Territory are located, according to Rosreestr, on a single plot of about 250 square meters. km. There is no information about who owns the land in the database, but several neighboring plots are registered with the territorial forestry department of the Ministry of Defense.

The military department is engaged in the equipment of the range. As follows from the documents on the public procurement portal, in the spring of 2015, the Ministry of Defense held a corresponding auction in the amount of 294 million rubles, the winner was Garrison JSC, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Defense. The base in Molkino was also re-equipped: 41.7 million rubles were spent on the landfill.

The maintenance of the base itself, as well as other military units, is also on the balance sheet of Sergei Shoigu's ministry. Tenders for garbage collection and linen transportation, sanitary services, territory cleaning, heat supply are carried out in packages for several tens or hundreds of military units at once, grouped on a territorial basis. On average, in 2015-2016, the military department spent 14.7 million rubles per military unit. excluding classified contracts, follows from the procurement documentation of six auctions, which mentions a base in the Krasnodar Territory.

In 2015-2016, the Ministry of Defense allocated an average of about 410 thousand rubles for the removal of waste from one part of the Southern Military District: the Megaline company became the winner of the tender. Until the end of 2015, the co-owners of the company were Concord Management and Consulting and Lakhta, which each owned 50%. Until mid-2011, Yevgeny Prigozhin owned a 14% stake in the first company, and until September 2013 he controlled 80% of Lakhta.

In 2015–2016, sanitary services for one military unit of the district cost an average of 1.9 million rubles, technical operation of heat supply facilities - 1.6 million rubles. The winners of tenders for these services were Ecobalt and Teplosintez, respectively (the latter, according to Fontanka, is managed by Megaline employees). The most costly item of expenditure for the maintenance of the camp is cleaning. In 2015, the Ministry of Defense allocated an average of 10.8 million rubles for cleaning one part of the Southern District. Contracts for cleaning in Molkino were concluded with the firm "Agat" (the company is registered in Lyubertsy, the connection with Prigozhin and his entourage could not be traced).

In contrast to the maintenance of bases, contracts for the supply of food in parts are not posted on the public procurement portal - this information falls under military secrets, since it allows you to determine the number of fighters. In July, an announcement appeared on the Avito.ru website hiring workers for a military canteen in Molkino. The employer is the company "Restaurantservice Plus". A similar vacancy was posted on one of the Krasnodar portals back in May. By phone, indicated in one of the announcements, a man named Aleksey answered the RBC correspondent, who confirmed that RestaurantService Plus was looking for workers in the canteen of the military unit. Phone number This company matches the numbers of two firms associated with Prigozhin, Megaline and Concord Management and Consulting.

Whether the Krasnodar PMC camp is provided from the same state orders as the GRU camp at the same base is not clear. The interlocutor of RBC, who is familiar with the structure of the unit, claims that the camps are similar in number and size, so the average cost of maintenance is also applicable to the base of the “Wagner group”. Most at auctions that mention military unit in Molkino, firms related to Prigozhin, Megaline and Teplosintez, could earn money: these companies signed state contracts for 1.9 billion rubles in 2015–2016, follows from the procurement documentation.

When asked if the restaurateur's companies were connected with the financing of the "Wagner group", a high-ranking federal official only smiled and replied: "You must understand - Prigozhin feeds very tasty food." Restaurantservice Plus, Ecobalt, Megaline, Teplosintez, Agat and Concord Management did not respond to RBC's request.

Issue price

If contracts for the maintenance of the base go through electronic platforms, then it is almost impossible to trace the costs of the salaries of PMC fighters - salaries are paid mainly in cash, say the fighters from the "Wagner group". Part of the money is being transferred to instant issuance cards, which do not indicate the name of the owner, and they themselves are issued to outside individuals, one of them specifies and confirms an officer of the Ministry of Defense. Nameless cards are issued by a number of Russian banks, including Sberbank and Raiffeisenbank, according to their official websites.

Talking about salaries, RBC's interlocutors cite similar figures. According to a driver working at a base in the Krasnodar Territory, civilians receive about 60,000 rubles. per month. An RBC source familiar with the details of the military operation indicates that a PMC fighter can count on 80,000 rubles. monthly, being based in Russia, and up to 500 thousand rubles. plus a bonus - in the war zone in Syria. The salary of a PMC employee in Syria rarely exceeded 250-300 thousand rubles. per month, an officer of the Ministry of Defense clarifies in a conversation with RBC. With a minimum threshold of 80 thousand rubles. he agrees, and estimates the average salary for an ordinary soldier at 150,000 rubles. plus combat and compensation. With the maximum number of the "Wagner group" of 2.5 thousand people, their salary from August 2015 to August 2016 could range from 2.4 billion (with 80 thousand rubles per month) to 7.5 billion rubles. (with monthly payments of 250 thousand rubles).

The cost of equipment for each fighter can reach up to $ 1,000, moving and living will cost the same amount per month, says Chikin from MSG. Thus, the cost of the presence of 2.5 thousand people in Syria, excluding salaries, can reach $2.5 million per month, or about 170 million rubles. (with an average annual dollar exchange rate of 67.89 rubles, according to the Central Bank).

The maximum spending on food during the Syrian campaign could be 800 rubles. per person per day, estimated Alexander Tsyganok, head of the Center for Military Forecasting of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis. From this estimate it follows that food for 2.5 thousand fighters could cost up to 2 million rubles.

It is PMCs who bear the main losses on the Russian side in Syria, RBC interlocutors who are familiar with the details of the operation say. Their data on the number of deaths vary. An employee of the Ministry of Defense insists that a total of 27 “private traders” died in the Middle East, one of the former PMC officers says at least 100 deaths. “From there, every third “two hundredth”, every second “three hundredth,” says an employee of the base in Molkino (“cargo-200” and “cargo-300” are symbols for transporting the body of a dead and wounded soldier, respectively).

RBC contacted the family of one of the dead PMC fighters, but the relatives refused to communicate. Later, several records appeared on the social networks of his relatives and friends, in which the actions of RBC correspondents were called a “provocation” and an attempt to tarnish the memory of the murdered. An officer from the "Wagner Group" claims that non-disclosure of working conditions in PMCs is a condition for families to receive compensation.

The standard compensation for the relatives of a dead soldier is up to 5 million rubles, says a source familiar with the structure of PMCs (the same amount is received by relatives of Russian military personnel who died during hostilities). But getting them is not always easy, insists an acquaintance of a “private trader” who died in Syria: often families have to literally knock out funds. The officer of the Ministry of Defense clarifies that for a deceased relative, families receive 1 million rubles, for wounded soldiers they pay up to 500 thousand rubles.

Taking into account salaries, supplying the base, accommodation and meals, the annual maintenance of the "Wagner group" can cost from 5.1 billion to 10.3 billion rubles. One-time expenses for equipment - 170 million rubles, compensation to the families of the victims with a minimum estimate of losses - from 27 million rubles.

Foreign PMCs and security companies do not disclose the structure of expenses - it is impossible to “pull out” from their reporting either the amount of training costs, or the salary of a fighter, or the cost of maintaining a group. In the mid-2000s in Iraq, employees of one of the most famous military companies Academi (formerly called Blackwater) received from $ 600 to $ 1,075 a day, the Washington Post wrote. According to the publication, the general of the US Army at the same time received a little less than $500 a day. Veterans of the US Marine Corps, who trained soldiers in Iraq, could earn up to $1,000, the Associated Press reported. CNN estimated the salary of mercenaries a little more modest - at $ 750: that's how much the fighters were due at the beginning of the war in Iraq.

Later, the monthly salary of “private traders” working in the Middle East could rise to about £10,000 (about $16,000 at the average annual rate), the Guardian pointed out. “In 2009, there was a period of about three months when we lost people every two or three days,” the publication quotes the words of a veteran of the British army, who was then serving on a contract in Afghanistan. The cumulative losses of PMCs operating in the Middle East amounted to dozens of dead and hundreds and thousands of wounded: for example, in 2011, 39 fighters were killed and 5,206 people were injured.

"Syrian Express"

The fighters get to Syria on their own, there is no centralized dispatch, one of the mercenaries explains. But the goods for the "Wagner Group" are delivered by sea - on the ships of the "Syrian Express". This name first appeared in the media in 2012: this is the name of the ships that supply the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including military goods.

The composition of the "express" can be divided into three parts: ships of the Navy, ships that previously operated civilian voyages and then became part of the military fleet, and chartered dry cargo ships owned by various companies around the world, says Mikhail Voitenko, creator of the Maritime Bulletin website. It monitors the movement of ships using an automatic information system (AIS), which allows you to identify ships and determine the movement parameters, including the course.

“The military bases are supplied with the help of an auxiliary fleet. If there are not enough ships, then the Ministry of Defense hires ordinary commercial ships, but they cannot carry military cargo,” explains an interlocutor familiar with the organization of sea freight. Among the ships that have joined the ranks of the Navy since the spring of 2015 is the dry cargo ship Kazan-60, which, as Reuters wrote, is part of the "express". Recently, it has changed owners many times: at the end of 2014, under the name of Georgy Agafonov, the ship was sold by the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company to the Turkish company 2E Denizcilik SAN. VE TIC.A.S.

The Turks resold it to the British company Cubbert Business L.P., then, as stated in a letter from 2E Denizcilik to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine (a copy is at the disposal of RBC), the ASP company “located in Russia” became the owner. Among the firms associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin, there is a legal entity of the same name, the winner of several auctions for cleaning objects of the Ministry of Defense and a participant in one of the tenders for maintaining the base in Molkino. In October 2015, the ship became part of Black Sea Fleet(Black Sea Fleet) of the Russian Navy under the name "Kazan-60". The command of the Black Sea Fleet did not answer RBC's question about how the fleet received the vessel.

In total, at least 15 civilian ships were involved in the “Syrian Express”: all of them followed the Novorossiysk-Tartus route in the fall of 2015, Voitenko notes, citing AIS data. Most of the vessels are registered to firms located in Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Ukraine. Several companies are located in Russia, follows from the data of marinetraffic.com and fleetphoto.ru services.

Voitenko estimates the freight of one civilian ship at $4,000 per day, of which $2,000 is its maintenance, $1,500 is the cost of fuel and fees. Based on this estimate, the lease of only civilian ships from the "express" for 305 days (September 30 - July 31) could amount to $ 18.3 million, or a little more than 1.2 billion rubles.

Delicate Interests

In early March 2016, with the support of Russian aviation, Assad's army launched an operation to liberate Palmyra: the city was recaptured after 20 days of fighting. “All the disparate ISIS gangs that escaped from the encirclement were destroyed by Russian aircraft, which did not allow them to leave in the direction of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor,” said Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy, head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff.

PMC fighters played a big role in the liberation of the areas of the historical part of Palmyra, says a former officer of the group. “First, the Wagner guys work, then the Russian ground units come in, then the Arabs and the cameras,” he says. According to him, the Wagner detachment is mainly used for offensives in difficult areas. This allows to reduce losses among the regular forces in Syria, says the source in one of the PMCs.

The Wagner Group is not entirely correct to call a private military company, another representative of this market is sure. “The detachment does not set itself the task of making money, this is not a business,” he clarifies. In the case of the Wagner Group, the interests of the state, which needed forces to solve delicate tasks in Syria, coincided with the desire of a group of former military personnel to earn money by performing tasks in the interests of the country, explains RBC's interlocutor, close to the leadership of the FSB.

“The benefit from PMCs is the ability to use them abroad, when the use of regular armed forces is not very appropriate,” said Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis. He actually repeats the statement of Vladimir Putin. “This [PMC] is indeed a tool for realizing national interests without direct participation of the state,” Putin, who at that time held the post of head of government, said in the spring of 2012.

In the same vein, in the fall of 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of the military-industrial complex, spoke: “We are thinking about whether our money will flow to finance foreign private security military companies, or we will consider the feasibility of creating such companies within Russia itself and take a step in this direction".

PMCs are also an opportunity for large businesses to use armed guards that will ensure the security of facilities abroad, such as oil pipelines or factories, said Grinyaev from the Center for Strategic Assessments and Forecasts. For the protection of its facilities, including in Iraq, LUKOIL in 2004, for example, created the agency LUKOM-A, and the security of Rosneft facilities is ensured by a subsidiary of the company RN-Guard.

“For the state, the use of private military companies can be financially beneficial only for solving specific problems, but cannot replace the army,” said Vladimir Neyelov, an expert at the Center for Strategic Studies. Among the risks of legalizing PMCs, he names a possible outflow of personnel from among the active military - not only for financial reasons, but also for the sake of career growth.

As for PMC Wagner, due to the appearance in the media of information about its connection with the base in Molkino, the Ministry of Defense is discussing the option of transferring private traders, the FSB officer says. According to him, Tajikistan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia are among the possible options. This is confirmed by the interlocutor in the Ministry of Defense. At the same time, he is sure: they will not disband the PMC - the unit has proven its effectiveness.

With the participation of Elizaveta Surnacheva

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2085221.html