At the time of this column, it is known with more or less certainty that on the night of February 7-8, in the vicinity of the former oil refinery of El Isba near the village of Hisham, in the clash with the forces of the international coalition, four soldiers of the "Wagner" , fighting on the side of Bashar Assad. According to Conflict Intelligence Team, this is Aleksei Ladygin from Ryazan, Stanislav Matveyev and Igor Kosoturov from the city of Asbest in the Sverdlovsk region, as well as Vladimir Loginov. Co-chairman of the Other Russia party, Alexander Averin, reported about another killed, former National Bolshevik Cyril Ananiev, "Media Zone", Natalia Gevorkyan writes in the column on "Radio Liberty".
From 8 to 12 February, the mass death in this attack of Russian "soldiers of fortune" could be believed or not to believe, based on information laid out in social media. On the participation of "Russian mercenaries on the side of pro-government forces" in this episode in the northeast of Syria, the first referring to officials in the Pentagon told the American channel CBS. The report said that if the Russians were killed during an American attack near the village of Khishash, then this is the first time when, as a result of the air raid of Americans in Syria, Russians were killed.
The Americans coordinate their actions with the Russian military, and, according to The New York Times, the Russian side was informed of the impending attack and did nothing to prevent it. On February 8, the Defense Ministry stated that "as a result of the shelling of the wound, 25 pro-government militia militiamen were received," and not a word about whether the Russians were among them.
Judging by the information that got into social networks, the number of killed is 100 or more people. That is for one night, if this information is correct, about the same as for the entire time of the presence of Wagner's "Wagner" in Syria, according to the data of the fighters themselves. These data, however, differ from the information of the military department, which until recently claimed that only 27 "private traders" perished in the Middle East,.
"Soldiers of fortune" so convenient for all countries that use them, that in case of death they do not spoil the official statistics. Their losses, like themselves, are outside the official zone of visibility. This "load of 200" or "load of 300" is the loss and pain of only their loved ones and comrades. They do not seem to be trained, they do not seem to be trained on bases on the balance sheet of the Defense Ministry, as if they are not equipping and being thrown into the zone of conflict for a state-private account. They are paid the tax, in case of death, families are paid, according to various sources, from 1 to 5 million rubles, and in case of injury - 500 thousand. They are as if outside the law, because Russian law provides for punishment for mercenarism and the creation of illegal armed formations.
In these "games" are played by many countries since the Cold War. Since then PMCs have not lost their relevance, they are becoming more and more. They are beneficial to different governments for different reasons, in particular, in conflict zones, where officially this or that country does not seem to be at war, or does not fight anymore, or does not want to officially light up (although the use of PMCs is quite extensive - from consulting and training to logistics and protection). It is believed that mercenaries spit on ideology and politics, they get paid for work, they make it. They are comfortable precisely with this irresponsibility of anyone before them or for them and themselves in front of anyone. At least that's the case with us, since neither their status nor the status of their employer, nor the rights, duties and responsibilities of the parties are legally prescribed.
We learned about Russian PMCs recently. At the departure of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in 2012 in the State Duma he was asked about the possibility of using private Russian military companies as one of the instruments of influence abroad. He replied: "I understood your question and believe that this is indeed an instrument for the realization of national interests without direct participation of the state. You are absolutely right. I think that yes, one can think about this, consider ". Two years later there was the Crimea, the Donbass - without the direct participation of the state, and Syria, where Putin formally completed a military operation involving Russia in November 2017.
"Without the direct involvement of the state" it is convenient (apparently, all) also because it does not provide for an official reaction, for example, to the mass death of mercenaries. I believe that if the official Russian military were killed in a similar situation, then this would presuppose some kind of answer - which strains, since Americans would have to answer. But I am assured that in this case there would be no answer either, because Russia has never pitied its people and because it will not dare to directly confront the US.
Most likely, it is this convenience that explains why at least twice were bills submitted to the Duma, which presupposed the legalization of private military security companies (2012 and 2014). In January this year, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov again spoke of this: "I think that here it is necessary to clearly fix the legislative base so that these people are also in the legal field and protected". Something tells me: the benefit of using mercenaries in particular is that they are outside the legal field, and I would not be surprised if the next bill is introduced and again rejected.
In 2001, 35 countries signed the UN convention banning the hiring, training, use and financing of mercenaries. Among these countries there is no permanent member of the UN Security Council, no country with a serious army. Neither Russia, nor the US, nor China. The US also opposes the use of the term "mercenary".
Nevertheless, this term is quite consistent with the nature of the activities of PMCs. But in the West, hiring some such legally existing companies, which are responsible for US laws, on the one hand, and as employers to those who are hired, on the other. There are contracts with the fighters, I think, quite detailed, they are entitled to insurance. How it happens in Russia, whether there are contracts, who concludes them and what is written there, if there is insurance for injury or death, I could not find out. Most likely, there is no formal employer, no contract, no insurance for our "private traders". Although, they say, they are sometimes given orders in the Kremlin. Well, yes ... "War, Your Grace, an empty game. / Today - good luck, and tomorrow - hole.
If the Ministry of Defense, or someone there in connection with the Americans, knew that under the attack in Hisham would include Russian "soldiers of fortune," and did not warn the Americans that it would remain on their conscience, but no one would answer for it.
The fighters there just for money, out of politics and ideology (unlike their sponsors), purely business, nothing personal, they knew what they were on, but here they are formally criminals, and in general - were there any boys? Formally, this is a non-existent army, which is not on the list of security agencies, nor in the registers of legal entities. Wagnerites are such phantoms, ghosts of war. Real coffins, which at best can at least roughly consider the efforts of journalists and observers.
Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Join also the TSN group. Blogs on facebook and follow the updates of the section!.