Political and Military Implications of Private Military Contractors in Russia

Abstract

The topic, which is of personal interest, makes an impression that contractors are only a marginal part of the modern security studies, the academic community of international relations and the public interest. The world is in constant evolution, dominated by more urgent topics and the previous ones are pushed into the background, which specifically in this case poses a great threat. Article focuses on the issue of private military contractors as an alternative to modern privatisation of military and overview of their main differences to the known mercenaries, ethics, and their restrictions with the aim to showcase timelessness and adequate usability of these contractors with the focus on characterising the Russian Private Military Companies and their recent operations. We intend to look at the role of Russian Private Military Contractors and analyse the possible impact that these companies may have and continuously still have in the sphere of international relations and security studies. We offer an updated viewpoint on their place in the current global governance order, and we showcase why and how have they achieved their status. Such findings are crucial for understanding the role of non-state actors in the current security environment.