Penal Battalions and Genocidal Warfare: History's Warnings, Wagner's Global Footprint, and Ukraine

Abstract

The expendability of penal battalions has provided genocidal regimes with ample fodder for conventional wars, genocidal warfare, and cases in which such conscripts may become either perpetrators or victims. The unresolved charges of those who massacred civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, in 2022 extend to include suspects from a private military security company (PMSC) known as the Wagner Group. Vladimir Putin's regime has regularly contracted Wagner since its founding in 2014 in operations that led to its adaptation and development as a tool for war and very likely also the world's first for-hire band of perpetrators. This study tracks histories of penal battalions before outlining the evolution of Wagner as a significant force in global politics and conflict. The findings suggest that prosecution, prevention, or intervention will become even more difficult than it already is for institutions of international law. The apparent successes and rapid growth of Wagner tend to indicate that the use of penal battalions in genocidal wars is not confined to the pages of history. The unaccountability of such suspects could increase both the recruitment of many more genocidal offenders and further risk the expendability of what Richard L. Rubenstein identified as surplus populations. By framing penal battalions that die en masse in genocidal wars, the case of the Wagner Group may ultimately include civilian victims in Ukraine, perpetrators for-hire, and victims within the group's own battalions that the Kremlin deployed to die across the war's frontlines.