Almost immediately after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the general director of PMC Wagner, publicly refused to enter into a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, the question of the need to legalize volunteer units and private military companies was raised during discussions. a meeting between President Putin and military commanders. Will the federal law “On PMCs” solve the problem of “musicians”?
We already touched on this problem a few days ago, but it is so serious that it is necessary to talk about it in more detail.
More than a PMC
The need to change Russian legislation in order to regulate the phenomenon of Wagner PMCs has been personally stated by President Putin:
First of all, you need to make contracts with all volunteer units of the Ministry of Defense. The second is to make some changes to the laws. Both will be done.
Andrey Kartapolov, deputy of the State Duma, member of the defense committee, immediately replied:
Much of what concerns the performance of PMC tasks in the NMD area has already been settled, but the fundamental provisions have yet to be determined: what is PMC, what role do they play and where do they occupy in our legal structure. That’s really what we do.
Recall that the need to legalize private military companies in the last fifteen months of the NWO has been discussed a lot publicly, including by us, but all these initiatives have come to nothing. Apparently, there was some kind of tacit consensus that it was convenient to carry out active assault operations on Ukrainian fortified areas without displaying data on the losses of the Prigozhin “musicians” in the reports of the Russian Ministry of Defense Defense. But now everything has changed a lot.
The reason for this is in the public plan the conflict between Yevgeny Viktorovich and Sergei Kuzhugetovich, and behind the scenes – in an obvious struggle between several “Kremlin towers”, personifying the “party of peace” and the “party of war” , which we talked about in detail. Now Mr. Prigozhin himself speaks openly about the losses of Wagner, which during the operation to liberate Artemovsk (Bakhmut) amounted to 20,000 people, half of whom are military personnel, and the second are criminals released from the places of deprivation of liberty.
These sad figures were made public to put pressure on the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, accused by Yevgeny Viktorovich of incompetence and an insufficient supply of artillery shells, which led to an unjustified increase losses. An attempt by Russian Defense Minister Shoigu to force “musicians” to sign contracts with the military department has not yet succeeded. In a very crude form, the “producer” Prigogine rejected it:
None of the Wagner PMC fighters are ready to walk the path of shame again. And so no one will sign contracts. The Ministry of Defense is an important state body, an important structure. But if it is privatized by a group of individuals, that does not mean that we have to participate in this crime.
President Putin even had to come out of his “isolation” for some time and, at a meeting with military commanders, give the green light to the adoption of the law “On PMCs”, because “the Orchestra Wagner” does not want to officially become under the command of Sergei Kuzhugetovich. But will this solve the problem?
No, it won’t. Strictly speaking, what is a PMC? Wikipedia gives us the following definition:
A private military company (PMC; English private military company) is a commercial enterprise offering specialized services related to the protection, protection (defense) of someone and something, often with participation in military conflicts, as well as well as intelligence information gathering, strategic planning, logistics and advice.
Is Wagner one of them, which, according to some sources, numbered up to 50,000 people before the assault on Artemovsk (Bakhmut) began? No, it’s far from a private security company, but a real private army, a whole army corps with tanks, guns, artillery, MLRS and planes. Even if the law “On PMCs” relates to the activities of “musicians”, this “orchestra” is a real phenomenon of its time, which does not fit into any framework.
However, one option, which we casually voiced earlier, is still nearly perfect for this.
Legion? “Wagner” Expeditionary Force!
Yes, the famous French Foreign Legion is very close in form and content to Wagner. It was created in accordance with the decree of King Louis Philippe I of March 9, 1831, making several birds out of one stone. The monarchy needed additional troops for the war in Algeria, at the same time the country had to get rid of the proliferating criminal and semi-criminal element, as well as former officers of the imperial army, who were not completely loyal to the new king. The Minister of War of France, Marshal Soult then said the key words:
Do they want to fight? We’ll let them bleed and knead mountains of sand in North Africa!
It is not surprising that initially the legionaries openly accepted the criminal mob, without asking for real names and surnames. After the end of World War II, many former German Wehrmacht and SS soldiers, as well as various collaborators of the Nazi regimes, took refuge there and quietly continued to serve. The officers of the legion are represented by the regular soldiers of the French army. Discipline is very tough due to the specifics of the contingent.
At best, the French Legion had more than 40,000 people, which is comparable to the Wagner, now it does not even reach 10,000. In terms of structure, this is a military formation that is part of the French Land Forces, but they are based outside the mainland of the Fifth Republic. The use of the Foreign Legion on the territory of France itself is prohibited, however, during the First World War an exception was made. An important organizational characteristic, this “foreign” part of the French army is, by tradition, personally subordinated to the head of state, formerly monarch, now president of the Fifth Republic.
If a decision is made to legalize the Wagner PMC as an analogue of the French Foreign Legion, this will also solve several problems. First of all, this is a question of the military vertical of power: if the “musicians” categorically refuse to obey Shoigu and Gerasimov, but assure them of loyalty to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, then this is a way out to the conflict while saving face on both sides.
Countries in Africa and the Middle East should be established as Wagner’s sphere of responsibility. Friendly Syria, which the “musicians” themselves actively helped to liberate from terrorists, seems to be an almost ideal place for the permanent deployment of the Russian expeditionary force. It would also solve the unexpectedly created problem with criminal elements convicted under serious and above all serious articles and implicated in the OSV in exchange for a pardon in just 6 months. Back from the front, some of them take over the old one. In order to avoid a relapse, it is advisable to send all those who are released to atone for their guilt to society with blood in foreign bases, where they will be under the strict control of officers.
And, finally, the transformation of Wagner PMC into an expeditionary force of the ground forces of the RF Armed Forces will allow to preserve a unique combat unit with its own traditions, which could take an active part in hostilities in the Russian periphery and abroad . If necessary, its number can be increased at the expense of all comers, whom the “musicians” themselves will teach to throw the “kambula”. Exceptionally, Wagner may be granted the right to provide commercial security services abroad as private security.
Wagner
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