RUSSIAN MILITARY COMPANIES (PMCs)

From the Russian law’s perspective, the creation and management of PMCs is an illegal activity. However since all PMCs are subordinate to the Kremlin in one way or another, the members of these organizations are not arrested or subjected to trials. With a few exceptions: if a PMC leader falls out of favor with the Kremlin, he or she can be arrested and sent to prison along with the members of the organization in accordance with the current laws of the Russian Federation.

1. According to the Russian resource kapital-rus.ru, PMCs are created to wage hybrid wars without direct involvement, thus not provoking open aggression. This is done in order not to provoke international conflicts, but to carry out certain combat operations in different parts of the world, circumventing the UN Charter and possible sanctions. Most of Russia’s PMCs were created to participate in the conflict in Ukraine.
2. Businessmen can finance the maintenance of fighters, which in the long run reduces the impact on the country’s budget.
3. PMC fighters are cheaper to maintain than regular troops.
4. PMCs are mobile groups, so they deploy faster.
5. The use of PMCs means a reduction in official losses.
6. People join PMCs voluntarily, so the state is not responsible to the families of the victims.
7. In the example of the Russian-Ukrainian war, PMCs provide very short training for fighters and often use them as “cannon fodder”- they are sent to storm the fortified positions without training and support from aviation and artillery. The main goal is to exhaust the opposite fighters before the main body of regular troops attacks.
8. The PMCs, which are carefully selected and trained, are staffed mainly with fighters with combat experience and former military personnel, which allows them to carry out more complex missions.
9. It is likely that influential people in Russia want to protect themselves, their wealth and territories in the event of a collapse or coup in Russia.
10. PMCs  have become a symbol of political power; so everyone follows the trend and thus promote themselves
11. PMCs are used to control mineral resources (oil towers, gold mines) in 19 African countries.
12. Putin probably intends to strengthen his power with the help of PMCs and avoid in a such a way a ‘palace coup”
13. Russians are creating PMCs to protect the loot.

RUSSIAN PMCs

1. Wagner (2014)
2. DshRG Rusich (2014)
3. Rusian Imperial Movement (a paramiliary unit of the Russian Imperial Legion Organization) (2002)
4. Sewa Security Service (2017)
5. RSB Group LLC (2005)
6. Redoubt/Redoubt Antiterror/Center for Redoubt/Center R (Formerly Wolfes (2018)
7. Moran Security Group (2018)
8. E.O.H.T. (" Raccoon" abbreviation in Russian (2011) Probably closed
9. EMC "Shield" (2018)
10. Yastreb (PMC Yastreb LLC) (2014)
11. PMC "Patriot" (2018)
12. Special Forces "Storm" (2022)
13. PMC Tsarskie Volki (Tsar's Wolves) (1992)
14. Gazprom PMC (Staff Alliance) (2023)
15. PMC "Convoy" (2023)
16. Andreyevsky Krest-PMC (2017)
17. Akhmat PMC (2022)
18. Tiger Battalion (2022)
19. BARS-13 ("Russian Legion") (2022)
20. Veterans Special Forces Brigade (2022)
21. LLC PMC Global (2008)
22. PMC "Strazh" LLC (2014)
23. Private Military Medical Company LLC (2023)
24. PMC Tavrida LLC, probably the Tavrida Battalion (2022)
25. Berkut PMC LLC (2022)
26. Zvesda Private Military Company LLC (2022)
27. ISIS Hunters (Al-Sayyad) (2017)
28. Polite People PMC LLC (closed)
29. LLC "CHOA" "CHVK (2014-2021) (closed)
30. Black Sea PMC LLC (closed)
31. Anti-Terror Eagle (closed)
32. "Slavic Corps" (closed)
33. MAR (PMC MAR LLC (closed)
34. ATK Group (2014)
35. Ferax (2018)
36. Byzantium (2015)
37. Vega PMC (Vegacy Strategic Services Ld.) (closed) 

PMCs Activity

1. Afghanistan
2. Angola
3. Azerbaijan
4. Belarus
5. Botswana
6. Burkina Faso
7. Burundi
8. Central African Republic
9. Chad
10. Congo (Democratic Republic of the)
11. Equatorial Guinea
12. Eritrea
13. Gabon
14. Georgia
15. India
16. Iran
17. Iraq
18. Lesotho
19. Libya
20. Madagascar
21. Mali
22. Mozambique
23. Nigeria
24. Rwanda
25. Serbia
26. Sierra Leone
27. Somalia
28. South Sudan
29. Sri Lanka
30. Sudan
31. Syria
32. Tajikistan
33. Tanzania
34. Ukraine
35. Venezuela
36. Yemen