Russia’s Wagner group is in news. The Wagner Group is a PMC — Private Military Company, and it is composed of mercenaries. Yevgeny Prigozhi founded Wagner in 2014. Wagner had an important role to play in capturing the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. After Wagner group fighters began their march into Moscow last week in a revolt against the Russian military system, the focus has turned to private military companies (PMCs). The group shot the military helicopters from Russia, and they halted only 200 kilometers from Moscow.
PMCs and their role
Private military companies (PMCs) are used for a variety of tasks, from combat operations to providing logistical support, and often hire ex-service veterans and security specialists. Many PMCs protect government employees and their properties, train new army and police officers, and support the US-led coalition forces operating in the conflict zone. Private military service is not a new concept. Mercenaries were used by European colonial powers, including the British, French, and Dutch, to extend their colonies and repress native populations. After the Cold War, there was a growth of PMCs as alternate/assistance to country’s military service. According to several reports, PMCs were employed in the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War, and conflicts in the Balkans.
Here are a few other PMCs:
China
VSS Security and DeWe Security. These companies took part in the 2016 evacuation of 300 Chinese workers from South Sudan. A private security firm by the name of Dewei Foreign dispatched 600 men to foreign construction sites in 2018 to protect CNPC in Sudan and Sinopec. Another one is the maritime militia. The marine militia uses a variety of grey zone strategies, including swarming the ships of enemy countries, participating in US freedom of navigation activities, and harassing foreign ships as and when necessary. By doing this, China can assert its maritime claims without using its naval forces. Militias will keep operating as long as politics, power, and commercial interests exist.
American Militias
Militias have a long history in America, dating back to the colonial Massachusetts part-time army that was in charge of the colony’s defense. It provided a pool of soldiers that could be recruited into the regular army during times of conflict and acted as the immediate defence force. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the militia was replaced by American Minutemen, volunteers who would arm themselves and be prepared to march at a moment’s notice. There were still a few militia companies there during the American Civil War. However, by the turn of the 20th century, they had been absorbed into the US National Guard. After controversial standoffs with government agents in the early 1990s, white nationalist militias also began to appear in America. These militias portray themselves as organizations fighting against an oppressive government. The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates 200 such private militia groups as of last year.
Academi and Blackwater
Academi is the most well-known private military company. They work closely with the US military and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Most of their recruits come from US Special Operations groups, including DEVGRU, Delta Force, and Army Special Groups. Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL, invented it in 1997. They changed their name from Blackwater to Academi after the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad. When the military contractor employed by the US government to provide security services in Iraq. While accompanying a convoy carrying the US embassy, they opened fire on Iraqi citizens. In this incident, 17 civilians in Iraq were murdered and 20 others were injured. They were employed to educate Iraq’s new army and police, provide protection for government employees and their locations, and support US-led coalition forces operating in the conflict zone. It is said that they detained the suspects, jailed and tortured them.
Irish Republican Army
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, many paramilitary groups in Ireland went under the name of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The original Irish Republican Army (1919-1922), sometimes known as the "old IRA," was formed in 1917 by members of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army. Under the direction of Michael Collins, it employed guerilla tactics throughout the Anglo-Irish War (1919–1921) to compel the British to negotiate leading to the establishment of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.
Aegis
Aegis Defense Services was established in 2002 by former British Army officer T. Speiser. The city of Basel is where the headquarters are situated. Geographically, its activities cover Iraq, China, Greece, the Congo, Kosovo, Nigeria, Sudan, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunic, the United Kingdom, the United States, Greece, Holland, Afghanistan, Nepal, Kenya, and Bahrain, dangers, and the defense of oil businesses.
