Ukraine

Are there contractors or mercenaries fighting in Ukraine?

March 16, 2022 | OVERSEAS INTEL, The Danger Zone

private military contractor

Foreign military contractors say they are not fighting in Ukraine period.

Most are being approached to help NGOs and humanitarian organizations in Ukraine or neighboring countries in need of people with specialized skills and experience working in austere conditions in conflict zones.

"Most of the guys I personally know going over are doctors, physician assistants, paramedics, nurses, and former special ops guys - or non-special ops guys - who are combat vets and understand," said Mykel Hawke, a former US special forces officer who has worked as a war zone contractor.

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Western contractors are governed by the laws and regulations of their own countries, said Christopher Mayer, a former US Army Colonel who worked with PMCs in Iraq.

They are supposed to protect people, places, or assets, rather than engage in direct combat.

Many in the industry bristle at the suggestion that they are 'mercenaries' or soldiers of fortune.

"It's the same kind of work that you see in the United States and elsewhere," Mr. Mayer said. "The difference is that in areas of conflict, the likelihood of having to use lethal force is much, much higher".

In practice, though, the line is blurry.

"If you have the skillset to be a private contractor, you have the skillset to be a mercenary. There's no bright line between the two," said Sean McFate, an-ex US paratrooper who later served as a contractor in Africa and elsewhere. "It comes down to market circumstances and the decision of the individual person."

"People talk about legitimacy and who the client is. None of that matters," he added. "If you can do one, you can do the other".

The proliferation of PMCs may lead to as much "chaos and mayhem" as good, he warned.

"Mercenaries historically elongate conflict for profit," he added. "It could get to a point in the mid-century where super-rich people have private armies, and I don't know how that looks."

Examples of such companies taking an offensive approach to conflict include the South Africa-based Executive Outcomes, which fought on behalf of the government of Angola and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.

Sandline International, headquartered in London, was involved in conflicts in Papua New Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

And members of Russian mercenary groups are said to be on the ground in Ukraine.

But Simon Mann, the former British special forces officer founder for Executive Outcomes and Sandline, told the BBC that the prospect of using Western contractors for offensive missions in Ukraine is "highly unlikely" and would pose complicated legal and organizational questions.

"How [would they be] funded? How [would they be] commanded? Where would they fit in the Ukraine order of battle?" he asked. "Would they be duly enrolled in the national armed forces before any operations? If not, then what would be their legal position? Casualties? Medical cover? Death and disability insurance?"

Mr. Mann - who spent several years in prison after being accused of leading an aborted coup d'état in Equatorial Guinea in 2004 - said that he is aware, however, of evacuation missions charging $10,000 per person, "mostly organized by PMC-type people who happen to have contacts on the ground".

Some have warned that even paid-for rescue missions into Ukraine could be fraught with danger for contractors and clients alike and that the industry is awash with people misrepresenting their ability or experience.

Orlando Wilson, a former British soldier, and long-time security contractor said that he believes that most of the talk surrounding private contractors in Ukraine is "rubbish".

"I don't see how people can operate in Ukraine at the moment, at least not privately," he said.

"If you're caught by either side or one of the militias, they'll just take you as a spy and that's it," Mr. Wilson added. "It wouldn't be safe for people doing it and it wouldn't be safe for the clients".

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Defense companies respond to demand for contractors in Ukraine

March 12, 2022 | The Danger Zone

PMC

The demand for Private Military Contractors (PMC) in Ukraine is rising by the day, as experts see “a frenzy in the market” for security personnel consisting primarily of former soldiers with combat experience. According to the BBC, some PMC companies are offering between $1,000 and $2,000 a day, excluding bonuses, for those with combat experience who are willing to make the trip to the war-torn country.

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Search jobs in Ukraine

Ever since the collapse of Soviet communism in the early 1990s, Eastern Europe has been fertile ground for PMC firms, which are usually employed to provide protection to corporations and wealthy families. Now the demand for PMCs in the region is rising fast and is expected to be constant for the foreseeable future. Currently, PMC jobs in Ukraine, an active warzone, come with a host of physical-security challenges. Experts tell the BBC that most of the missions in which PMCs experts participate involve logistical support and so-called “extraction” operations. These refer to organized efforts to help remove people from Ukraine. They can range from simple to very complex operations, sometimes involving entire families of people who have the means to pay for their security. In such cases, operations may be priced in the millions, with handsome profits for those involved. In many cases, PMCs can charge in excess of $10,000 per person for extraction operations.

Industry insiders stated that a number of non-governmental organizations operating inside or around Ukraine are hiring now PMCs for protection. In such cases, PMC personnel are “supposed to protect people, places or assets, rather than engage in direct combat”. However, there are instances of intelligence agencies that are hiring PMCs in order to extract some of their personnel who have gotten stuck in Ukraine amidst the conflict. These operations are among the most complex because they involve contractual work on behalf of foreign governments.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government said last week it would make provisions to offer Ukrainian citizenship to international volunteers who join the ranks of its military. Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister, Yevhen Yemen, said in an interview that a special Ukrainian “military passport” will be given to international volunteers. The passport will replace the need for a visa, and can potentially be replaced with a Ukrainian passport for those who wish to acquire citizenship. On the same day, a number of African countries, among them Senegal, Nigeria, and Algeria, cautioned their citizens against traveling to Ukraine to fight in the war in exchange for money or citizenship.

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Non-emergency personnel working at the U.S. Embassy in Russia told to leave

March 4, 2022 | OVERSEAS INTEL, The Danger Zone

The State Department stated earlier this week that it was suspending operations at the US Embassy in Minsk, Belarus, and authorized departure for non-emergency employees and family members at the Embassy in Moscow due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

POSTED BY U.S. EMBASSY - RUSSIA: " U.S. citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via commercial options still available.

If you are in Russia and your U.S. passport expired on or after January 1, 2020, you may be able to use your expired passport to return directly to the United States until March 31, 2022.

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