Mercenaries in Ukraine?

Recently many speculative reports have appeared in the Russian and Western media quoting various Russian and Ukrainian sources about the presence of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. Due to a lack of understanding of the difference between mercenaries, who are outlawed by international legal norms, and contractors who do not carry out combat operations, are not involved in the conflict and do not support any side in conflicts, various media outlets are designating as mercenaries any persons located in Ukraine who are armed and wearing uniforms without insignia.

Recently many speculative reports have appeared in the Russian and Western media quoting various Russian and Ukrainian sources about the presence of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. Due to a lack of understanding of the difference between mercenaries, who are outlawed by international legal norms, and contractors who do not carry out combat operations, are not involved in the conflict and do not support any side in conflicts, various media outlets are designating as mercenaries any persons located in Ukraine who are armed and wearing uniforms without insignia.

Some news agencies, citing Interfax as their source, reported that in early March 2014, 300 mercenaries arrived in Ukraine from the United States [1]. According to a military-diplomatic source from Kiev, “they allegedly are people with extensive experience in military operations, and many of them were previously hired under private contracts in Iraq or Afghanistan.” [2]

Moreover, other media outlets [3] frequently mentioned the infamous American private military and security company Blackwater, which in 2007 was involved in the shooting of civilians in Baghdad's Al-Nissur Square, killing 17 people [4]. After this tragic incident, the company changed its name and ownership several times in attempts to rebuild its reputation. Today, the company formerly known as Blackwater bears the name of Academi. However, assuming that the allegations of the mercenaries' presence in Ukraine are true, we can assert with absolute certainty that neither these nor other mercenaries in Ukraine have any links with Academi, or any other known foreign private military and security company.

It is important to understand the origin, nature and differences between the concept of contractual work on the one hand and that of mercenaries on the other. Over the past decade, the phenomenon of mercenarism has become virtually inseparable in various international circles from the phenomenon of private military and security companies (PMSCs). There is often a great deal of confusion when people working under contract for private military and security organizations are not distinguished from true mercenaries, which are internationally outlawed. Mercenarism per se is not a new phenomenon. The word “mercenary” appeared in the English language in the 14th century and is derived from the Latin «mercenarius», which originally meant work performed by a person motivated primarily by personal gain, solely for financial or other reward. In the 14th century, the word acquired the meaning of a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army [5]. At the present time, the most accurate definition of mercenaries seems to be offered by David Isenberg, a U.S. Navy veteran and an expert in the field of private military and security activities. By mercenaries, he understands foreign nationals hired for direct participation in armed conflicts [6].

The notion of "mercenary" has a somewhat offensive connotation for two reasons. The first is connected with the idea that a mercenary is a hired professional soldier who fights for any state or nation without regard to political interests or issues [7]. This kind of employment runs counter to the sense of values that a military should uphold moral principles. There is also suspicion that combatants hired in such a distinctly immoral fashion may also act immorally, since they are already carrying out activities outside the conventional boundaries of the state.

The second reason relates to the notion that killing is permissible only under strictly defined circumstances, which include self-defense, or the defense of other individuals or people as a whole. However, the above definition does not include taking lives in exchange for a reward. This has been demonstrated convincingly enough by the violent reaction of the international media to the involvement of Sandline mercenaries in Papua New Guinea in 1997 [8].

Pinterest / Katarzina Tuzylak

However, not all mercenaries are treated with contempt. Units of foreign troops included in the national armed forces, such as the Gurkhas in the British army or the French Foreign Legion, are regarded as “acceptable mercenarism.” The establishment of corporate mercenaries, and more recently, the emergence of private military and security companies, has made contractual soldiers a wide-spread phenomenon in the present-day. Representatives of such companies usually try to distance themselves from any association with activities labeled as mercenarism. Today's private military and security companies prefer such definitions as “security specialist”, “military expert”, “defense consultant” or ”defense agent.”

Mercenarism today has taken on many new forms, although direct participation in hostilities still remains the basis of mercenary activities. This is an important development due to the fact that, in contrast to mercenarism, the goal of private military and security companies is not the direct involvement in combat operations or the armed support of any parties to the conflict. The range of services provided by these companies is very broad and diversified. They include ensuring the tight security and escort of officials and foreign personnel; the protection of public and commercial institutions, as well as military and civilian bases, warehouses and buildings, industrial facilities, embassies; consulting; intelligence activities; training; transportation and logistics support; construction, maintenance and repair of office buildings; monetary operations; transportation of the mining industry equipment; performing risk management analysis, etc.

Therefore, no self-respecting private military and security company, especially if it is a signatory to the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC) [9], enters into contracts with unrecognized governments or opposition forces to render military support to one of the parties, since that action would be termed illegal mercenary activity [10]. This alone makes any linkage of mercenaries with personnel under contract of private military and security companies irrelevant and groundless.

Mercenaries in Ukraine?

In the first half of April 2014, reports reappeared about the presence in Ukraine of 150 mercenaries from Greystone Ltd., which used to be an affiliate of Xe Services, which was the successor to the private military and security company Blackwater [11].

The German tabloid Zeitung published quite new information in mid-May 2014. In particular, it reported the appearance of 400 American mercenaries in Ukraine, presumably hired by Academi, who arrived to the country to render the provisional Ukrainian government support in the fight against pro-Russian separatists [12].

However, none of the reports were officially confirmed, and Academi and Greystone Ltd. representatives dismissed the accusations of sending their employees to Ukraine [13].

Why There Are No Western Mercenaries in Ukraine

It should be noted that neither Academi nor Greystone Ltd., nor any other self-respecting private military and security company has mercenaries on its payroll, because mercenary activities are prohibited by the UN International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries [14] and the laws of many countries. Private military and security companies have staff specialists and experts in the field of security on their staff, all of whom officially work under contract. Associations that utilize the services of mercenaries tend to conceal their activities and often just do not register as legal entities in order to avoid prosecution for illegal mercenary activities. Thus, the mercenaries are professional soldiers who unite to perform a specific task, for example, to participate in combat operations on the side of one of the parties involved with the intent of personal gain.

onalert.gr / AP
Contractors during the war in Iraq

First, it is worth recalling the recent scandal surrounding Russian mercenaries, involving the deputy director of the Russian private military and security company Moran Security Group Vadim Gusev, who was detained by the Russian FSB in accordance with Article 359 “Mercenarism” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As it turned out, V. Gusev and another employee E. Sidorov got mixed up with the company Slavonic Corps, which sent mercenaries to assist the Syrian government in suppressing rebel movements. According to the contractors, they were deceived, because they had been hired to guard power installations, but on arrival in Syria, were involved in clashes with rebels. The head of the “Syrian project”, as the media called it, was V.Gusev, one of the arrested [15].

Second, contracts with Western private military and security companies, as well as with any PMSC are an expensive venture, which neither the new government of Ukraine, nor the opposing forces can currently afford. A report prepared in 2011 by the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction gives an idea of the cost of services provided by private military and security companies [16]. According to the report, since 2003, the U.S. budget has allocated $5.9 billion for contracts with major private military and security companies for their services, including the physical security of personnel, equipment and property in Iraq, working in Iraq under contract and subcontract agreements, as well as other persons who have cooperated with the U.S. government [17]. The largest contracts were awarded to Academi (the total amount of contracts with the Department of Defense, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development exceeds 1.2 billion dollars); Aegis Defence Services Ltd (contracts with the Department of Defense total about 800 million dollars); DynCorp International LLC (contracts with the Department of Defense and the State Department total more than 690 million dollars); Triple Canopy Inc. (contracts with the Department of Defense, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development total more than 516 million dollars); and EOD Technology Inc. (contracts with the Department of Defense exceed 313 million dollars) [18].

Pay scales for contractors vary from $500 to $1,500 per day depending on services provided [19].

It is highly improbable that the West could cover such expenses in Ukraine, since the related reputation risks appear to be unreasonably high. However, if there are specialists from Western private military and security companies in Ukraine, they could well be employees of the companies that officially provide protection of diplomatic missions of foreign states. In particular, the United States sends employees of private military and security companies that cooperate with the U.S. government to accompany diplomatic missions around the world and ensure the protection of American diplomats, their families and diplomatic facilities. This explains why this type of work under contract should not become the subject of speculation in the media.

vThird, even if there are 150, 300 or 400 soldiers in Ukraine, what can they really do against the Ukrainian National Army, which numbers in the many thousands? This number is too small to take seriously.

***

It's hard to guess who is profiting by fuelling speculations over the presence of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. The West is not interested in circulating such rumors. The news story in the German tabloid Bild Zeitung deserves no particular attention. This information would have mattered much more had it been revealed by Der Spiegel, for example. In the meantime, The Wall Street Journal appears to be the only outlet worthy of attention which responded to the news by publishing PMSC's disclaimer about the presence of foreign contractors in the country.

The U.S. is also unlikely to have anything to do with this information, since the Americans can afford send much more serious resources than a handful of mercenaries to Ukraine. In addition, contractors are prone to take action, and not just a think tank composed of different security specialists. In the past, the United States is accustomed to relying on the latter. Moreover, we have every reason to believe that the U.S. lacks qualified experts on the Ukrainian issue. U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, unfortunately, illustrates this lack of geographical and geopolitical knowledge of the Ukrainian problem well.

Since an armed conflict in Ukraine involving Russian armed forces is highly unlikely, the possibility of provocation on the Russian side is out of the question too.

It is possible that such information could have been spread by some forces in Ukraine opposed to on another on the eve of the presidential elections in order to attract more attention to the Ukrainian issue. Now, with the presidential elections over, such provocations are unlikely. Besides, if any foreign private military and security company begins operating on the territory of Ukraine and officially concludes a contract to provide certain security services, information about this will be available not in the tabloids, but on the company's official website.

1. For details see http://www.vz.ru/news/2014/3/5/675685.html; http://russian.rt.com/article/23657

2. For details see http://www.1tv.ru/news/world/253517

3. For details see http://www.rg.ru/2014/05/14/naemniki.html

4. For details see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/16/AR2007091601062.html; http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/world/middleeast/03firefight.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

5. The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 5th edition, Clarendon, Oxford, 1964

6. David Isenberg, Soldiers of Fortune Ltd.: A Profile of Today's Private Sector Corporate Mercenary Firms.

7. See Encyclopedia Britannica.

8. For details see: Corporate Soldiers and International Security: The Rise of Private Military Companies” by Christopher Kinsey;

9. For details see: http://www.icoc-psp.org

10. Academi signed the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers on November 9, 2010.

11. For details see: http://en.ria.ru/world/20140411/189167259/OPINION-Ambiguity-of-Mercenary-Label-Is-Politically-Expedient.html; http://military.einnews.com/article_detail/199241457?lcode=Zz4wlmbZg3sd7nJ_9b-AdEizDRQ84CgKOxWi6fvXG9A%3D

12. For details see: http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/rumors-of-american-mercenaries-in-ukraine-spread-to-germany-1.283154; http://www.thetoc.gr/eng/politics/article/rumor-of-us-mercs-in-ukraine-rife-in-berlin

13. For details see: http://academi.com/news_room/press_releases/94; http://www.thestate.com/2014/05/14/3446735/russia-may-have-won-a-battle-as.html; http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/greystone-firm-accused-disguising-mercenaries-ukrainians/story?id=23243761; http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/11/ukraine-russia-crimea-sanctions-us-eu-guide-explainer

14. The International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 4, 1989. For details see: http://www.un.org/russian/documen/convents/r44-34.pdf

15. For details see Verbovshhiki «Slavjanskogo korpusa», otpravljavshie «gladiatorov» v Siriju, arestovany http://www.ukrinform.ua/rus/news/verbovshchiki_slavyanskogo_korpusa_otpravlyavshie_gladiatorov_v_siriyu_arestovani___smi_1577391

16. For details see the Commission on Wartime Contracting, Final Report To Congress “Transforming wartime contracting. Controlling costs, reducing risks”, August 2011 http://www.wartimecontracting.gov

17. For details see Comprehensive Plan For Audits Of Private Security Contractors To Meet The Requirements Of Section 852 of Public Law 110-181, http://www.sigir.mil/files/audits/Section_842.pdf

18. Comprehensive Plan For Audits Of Private Security Contractors To Meet The Requirements Of Section 852 of Public Law 110-181, http://www.sigir.mil/files/audits/Section_842.pdf

19. For details see CRS Report to Congress. Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues, August 25, 2008 http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32419.pdf