The Wagner Group mutiny on June 23, 2023, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is reported to have died in a plane crash on August 24, prompted the Russian state and legislators to pay close attention to militant formations in Russia. Some observers note that one of the reasons for the mutiny was the Defense Ministry's desire to legalize private military companies by granting them status within the Russia Armed Forces. This initiative, however, faces a counter process, as the hostilities demonstrate a growing inability of the Russian army and internal forces to repel threats. Drones strike Russian territory and infrastructure while various groups operate in Russia's border regions. This situation has prompted the emergence of semi-military bodies that receive weapons but are not well controlled.
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Law To Allow Regional Governments To Form Private Military Companies
On March 13, deputy members of the State Duma Defense Committee Andrey Kartapolov, who is chairman and colonel-general, Andrei Krasov, who is first deputy and army colonel, and Yury Shvytkin, who is deputy chairman and colonel of the police, filed a bill introducing amendments to several Russian laws, namely those concerning the age of conscription, military service, and arms ownership both in Russia and in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The amendments were passed in on July 27. Among other novelties, the amendments increased the maximum age of conscription from 27 to 30 years old, prevented those who have received an army summons from leaving the country, and allowed employees of the "specialized state unitary enterprises" to use combat firearms. Under "combat firearms the Russian legal system considers (not limited to): 9mm handguns, 9mm and 7.52v submachine guns, AK assault rifles of various calibers, 7.62 mm carbines, as well as shotguns of all calibers." Combat arms also allow for automatic fire, which is disabled in similar civilian hunting models.
Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee Colonel-General A. V. Kartapolov (Source: the website of the State Duma Defense Committee).
On July 25, before the voting on the bill, Kartapolov addressed the deputies, emphasizing that "this law was designed for a big war, for general mobilization. And now this big war is already at our doorstep."
In passing the bill, the Russian authorities faced a conundrum. Prigozhin's mutiny clearly demonstrated threats that come with the creation of extra-state bodies that are allowed to exert violence. For instance, Russian expert Grigory Yudin argued: "The Russian army is a feudal army consisting of 'druzhinas [a military retinue in the service of a Slavic feudal chieftan in medieval times].' There are various elements in it – private military companies [or] formations like Kadyrov's that are subordinate to corporations and regions. Prigozhin heads one of these 'druzhinas.' Internal squabbles always happen between feudal lords." On the other hand, the inability of the Russian army to effectively face threats leads to ad hoc decisions, such as the creation of semi-military organizations.
In the new bill, the state has decided to mitigate this issue by allowing regions, by decision of the president, to create private companies in the form of unitary enterprises owned by the Federal authorities. According to the text, the highest officials of the constituent entities of Russia, usually a governor or mayor, can establish specialized state unitary enterprises during the period of mobilization, which is underway in Russia now, martial law, or wartime. President Putin has introduced martial law in DPR and LPR, in the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson oblasts of Ukraine, and in the Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Rostov oblasts of Russia, Krasnodar Krai, Crimea, and the federal city of Sevastopol.
Calls In The Past For Territorial Defense Units
Previously, Russian pro-state media had called for the creation of "territorial defense units," which are basically volunteer militias. There are similar units in Ukraine. For instance, on May 29, counsellor to the Acting Head of the Donetsk Peoples Republic Igor Kimakovskiy called live on the air during "Solovyov Live" for the creation of territorial defense units in the regions bordering Ukraine. In turn, in May, Vyacheslav Gladkov, who is governor of Belgorod Oblast, which Ukrainian units had attacked, called for the passage of amendments allowing for the arming of territorial defense units.
Governor of Belgorod Oblast Vyacheslav Gladkov (Source: Gazeta.az)
On May 29, the governor stated: "We live in a state of de facto war. Whether anyone likes it or not, [the war] is going on. The enemy enters our territory, we had five cases of Ukrainian DRG [diversion and reconnaissance groups] infiltrating the city of Graivoron." The initiative was also supported by the acting governor of the Kherson Oblast (occupied by Russia) Vladimir Saldo and several other groups. The Española PMC, which conscripts football hooligans, appealed to the Russian government to "to grant some border region to Española... in order to arm, train and motivate the population of the border regions."
Creator of Española PMC, Stanislav Orlov, aka Española (Source: Española Telegram channel)
In his interview with the editor-in-chief of Ridus media, Española PMC creator Stanislav Orlov, stated: "The correct involvement of the civilian population in the country's defense process... is impossible without adequate propaganda work, without normal training and especially without arming them. As is well known, a lot of problems in reaching this goal arise from the fact that everyone is afraid to take responsibility, including from a legal point of view. We, Española, are ready to take responsibility for every civilian involved in the defense of the border territories, if we are entrusted with this field of work."
Regional authorities already support both regular and private military units by providing assets or equipment or through fund-raising campaigns. The website of the Office of the Federal Treasury for Pskov Oblast in Russia published on July 26 a post about the assistance provided by Treasury employees to military personnel of the 234th regiment of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division of the Airborne Forces. The post includes a photo showing the head of the department, whose name is given as Gubin, giving a drone to soldiers of the regiment, one of whom is wearing a patch with a kolovrat, or a Slavic swastika.
Officials from the Office of the Federal Treasury for Pskov Oblast give drones to Russian military personnel.
Funding And Arming The Regional Private Military Companies
The federal authorities undertook the main responsibility for financial support of the activities of such unitary enterprises, while allowing regions to give these enterprises property as well. According to the law, the goal of such "regional PMCs" would be "to assist law enforcement agencies, federal security service agencies as well as military command and control agencies in protecting public order and ensuring public safety, in guarding of the state border, in fighting sabotage and reconnaissance formations of foreign states and illegal armed formations." There is little doubt that under "sabotage and reconnaissance formations of foreign states" the law means Ukrainian military formations, such as the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), which attacked Belgorod oblast, while by "illegal armed formations" the bill means Prigozhin's coup.
The law provides for the following legal mechanism to arm these units: First, supreme executive bodies of the constituent entities – generally governors or mayors – loan the needed arms from local units of the national guard of Russia and then in turn loan them to unitary enterprises. Governors are tasked with the registration of all combat arms and ammunition transferred. Legally, the units of the national guard of Russia own the arms. Such a complicated procedure makes governors responsible for the transfer. However, the law provides governors with no mechanism on how exactly these armed militias should be controlled.
The bill was proposed by deputies – former officers of the army and police – and these departments have almost no responsibilities under the new bill. The trend of shifting federal responsibility to governors has been recorded since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current measure might exacerbate a conflict between the federal center and the regions. However, in addition to responsibilities and expenses, this time the regions will receive arms and private militias, albeit armed with loaned weapons. The employees of such unitary enterprises have the status of departmental security personnel, are sworn in, and wear uniforms apparently different from those of the regular armed forces. In addition, the law specifically notes that employees of such enterprises have a right to fight enemy drones.
According to the law, all arms should be returned by governors to the national guard units within 30 days of the moment of passing of the presidential decree on termination of the such enterprises – supposedly such employees should return their arms much earlier. It should be noted that private companies create militias as well as regional governments. An investigation conducted by a journalist from "Dos'ie" media reported on how "Konvoi" PMC is associated with Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg and Russian "VTB" bank, which transferred 200 million rubles to "Konvoi."
The screenshot depicts a shoulder patch of "Konvoi" PMC. The PMC is stationed in Crimea and operates at Kherson front. The post says that "Konvoi" will replace Wagner PMC at the front. The head of the PMC is Konstantin Pikalov.
Some experts argue that the bill will prove to be detrimental. The passage of such a bill reflects the problems that Russian forces face, including diversion groups, drone strikes, and difficulties in mobilization. However, it will also lead to the erosion of state monopoly to assert violence and might facilitate grey arms circulation. One should not exclude internal conflicts between federal units, like the national guard, and such militias. On August 15 it was reported that fighters of Chechen battalion "Akhmat" had gotten into a firefight with Russian servicemen from another battalion. Russian analyst Yulia Latynina dubbed the bill "a suicidal step for Putin."
The Chechen battalion "Akmat" prays in a forest near Kiev in February of 2022. The Akhmat serves as private guard of Russian politician and current Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov.
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