From private to general

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed legalizing the activities of Russian private military companies. “I think that here you need to clearly fix the legislative framework for these people (militants of Russian PMCs. - Ed.) Also in the legal field and are protected,” RBC quotes the Minister of RBC.

Lavrov noted that the practice of using PMCs by various countries "spreads".

The head of the Foreign Ministry added that Russia still did not establish the whereabouts of the PMC of the PMC Wagner Roman Zabolotnaya and Grigory Tsurkan, who were captured by the Islamic State. “The collection and rechecking of the relevant information is primarily engaged in our military,” he emphasized. Earlier it was reported that Wagner's company has already announced the death of mercenaries.

Now in Russia several private military organizations are unofficially operating. Russian mercenaries participated in aggression against Ukraine, and now they are fighting in Syria. It is also known about the possible sending of militants in Russian PMCs to Sudan to participate in the civil war in this country on the side of the dictator Omar al-Bashira. Currently, the activities of PMCs in Russia are illegal - it falls under Article 359 of the Criminal Code (mercenary).

President Vladimir Putin proposed creating a system of private military companies in Russia back in 2012. The head of state called PMC "an instrument of realization of national interests without the direct participation of the state."