Fourteen days into the war, reports are emerging that Russia and Ukraine are recruiting ‘soldiers of fortune’. Syrian mercenaries, the Wagner Group and Chechen fighters are now an active part of the offensive
There seems to be no end in sight for the Russia-Ukraine war even as it enters Day 14 on Wednesday.
As the fighting and shelling continues, the Pentagon on Monday reported that Russia was recruiting Syrian fighters, who are experienced in urban warfare, to fight in Ukraine in order to overthrow the government in Kyiv.
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The Pentagon’s claim was backed up by a report published in the UK newspaper The Times that mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company recently sanctioned by the European Union for alleged human rights abuses, are operating in Kyiv with orders from the Kremlin to assassinate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
And it’s not just Russia that is making use of mercenaries, according to reports. Moscow has stated that the West has despatched mercenaries to the combat zones in Ukraine.
As both sides claims the use of ‘soldiers of fortune’, here’s a better understanding of who they exactly are, what they do and their role in the ongoing war.
What’s a mercenary?
In simplest terms, a mercenary is an armed civilian paid to do military operations in a foreign conflict zone.
According to a paper published by Sean McFate in the National Defense University Press, there are five characteristics that distinguish mercenaries from soldiers and armed non-state actors, such as terrorists.
First: They are motivated more by profit than politics. Secondly, they are structured as businesses, and some of the large private military corporations have even been traded on Wall Street and the London Stock Exchange, such as DynCorp International and Armor Group.
Other characteristics of a mercenary are that they normally seek work in foreign lands rather than provide domestic security services. Besides this, mercenaries typically deploy force in a military manner and most importantly, mercenaries are lethal and represent the commodification of armed conflict.
The most widely accepted international definition of a mercenary is provided by Article 47 of Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.
It states:
1. A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.
2. A mercenary is any person who:
a. is especially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;
b. does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;
c. is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party;
d. is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;
e. is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and
f. has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.
International law prohibits the use of mercenaries in armed conflict and certain peaceful situations.
Mercenaries in Russia-Ukraine war
Since Vladimir Putin announced the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine on 24 February, it has emerged that several mercenary groups have been recruited by both sides to fight this war.
We now take a look at some of the bigger names that have joined the offensive and try to trace their origins and their role in the conflict.
Syrian mercenaries: The Wall Street Journal, Al-Monitor and other publications have reported that Russia is recruiting Syrian mercenaries to fight in Ukraine.
Russia launched a military campaign in support of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in 2015 that has been crucial in turning the tide of the country’s civil war in the government’s favour. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal cited US officials as saying the Russian military had in recent days been recruiting fighters from Syria, “hoping their expertise in urban combat can help take Kyiv”.
Deir EzZor 24, an independent news platform based in Syria, had reported last week that Russia, with about $200 to $300 per head, was recruiting Syrians as mercenaries to fight in Ukraine as “guards” for six months.
Wagner Group: The Wagner Group is a Russian private military company and has been accused of covertly working for the Russian government to conduct combat operations in different parts of the world. It has a presence in Libya, as well as in Syria, Mozambique, Mali, Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
The group, founded in 2014, has been believed to be used by the Kremlin to carry out operations and achieve its objectives; a claim that Russia vehemently denies.
According to a 2017 Bloomberg report, the mercenary group had as many as 6,000 members.
In the ongoing conflict, it has been reported by The Times that the Wagner Group has carried out two assassination attempts on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The group was sanctioned recently by the European Union for alleged human rights abuses in the areas they reportedly operate, like Libya, Syria, and even the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
Chechen fighters: Interestingly, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is seeing Chechen fighters on both sides — ie, they are fighting one another. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, has rallied to fight for Russia in Ukraine. The Guardian reported that Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, had alleged that a unit of Chechen special forces had been sent to kill the country’s president.
However, a large number of Muslim Chechens are also siding with Ukraine. Photos of armed Chechens wearing yellow armbands, which identify Ukrainian forces, have been shared on social media.
Ukraine’s International Legion: Foreign soldiers have signed up to fight for Ukraine. Officials of the Ukrainian government have stated that around 16,000 have volunteered to join the international legion.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed to CNN that approximately 20,000 foreign volunteers have travelled to the Ukraine to join the fight against Russia.
In addition to this, it has also been reported that a job advertisement appeared this week on a website called Silent Professionals, which publishes listings for defence and private security jobs.
An advertisement seeking private military contractors for work in Ukraine. Image Courtesy: Silent Professionals
The advertisement is looking for “extraction and protective agents” to conduct “evacuation operations of individuals and families throughout Ukraine’s countryside and major cities.”
Reacting to the news that Ukraine is welcoming foreign fighters, Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted telling state agency TASS that none of the mercenaries the West is sending to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime will enjoy the right of combatants under international humanitarian law.
“I wish to make an official statement that none of the mercenaries the West is sending to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime in Kiev can be considered as combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law or enjoy the status of prisoners of war,” Konashenkov stressed.
He warned that all foreign mercenaries, detained in Ukraine, would be brought to justice on criminal charges.
“At best, they can expect to be prosecuted as criminals. We are urging all foreign citizens who may have plans to go and fight for Kiev’s nationalist regime to think a dozen times before getting on the way,” Konashenkov said.
With inputs from agencies
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