Chastnye Voennie Companiy

Huh? OK, I dropped the Cyrillic, anglicized the letters, but it means “private military company” (PMC) in Russian. And it is just one of dozens of ways that Moscow gets its dirty work done while maintaining “plausible deniability.” It allows Russia’s leaders to claim that the government did not do whatever these “subcontractors” actually did… but get the same result. The Russian government is equally adept at ferreting out its brightest hackers and software subversives, shoveling wads of untraceable cash (and sometime untraceable hard narcotics) and encouraging them to poison the democratic electoral process in the US and the West, sow paralyzing and polarizing hate-incenting stories and messages (truth is a rarity), deploy social media to maximum effect and deluge critics with a tsunami of electronic threat-messages. With total deniability.

These techniques are exceptionally well-developed, massively effective, and cleverly deployed. Indeed, the anti-Putin elements – there are a rare few allowed to exist – have even complained that to Russians, that Americans and Europeans are investigating and complaining about Moscow’s interference in their election processes is nothing more than a testament to Vladimir Putin’s excellence at effectively pulling global puppet strings from an all-powerful Russian government. Vladdy looks good to his constituency. 

Since providing mercenary military services is illegal within Russia (Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), Moscow has been very careful about enlisting such services inside Russia – mostly it happens in foreign combat zones – but, wink-wink, when it is necessary and seems effective, where there’s a will, there’s a way. They’re not even shy about admitting it. 

“When asked about the possibility of using private military companies as indirect instruments of Russian influence abroad in 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by saying, ‘I believe that such companies are a way of implementing national interests without the direct involvement of the state.’ He added, ‘I think we could consider this option.’ Some point to 2008 laws allowing state energy firms Gazprom and Transneft to maintain extensive security forces as early precursors to legalizing private military companies in Russia.” The Cipher Brief, November 26^th. In short, Moscow is constantly using its extensive global business connections as a political and even military instrument… rather as a matter of normal process. It just adds one layer of that precious “plausible deniability” that these former Soviet-era KGB operatives know so well how to use.

And we are talking about soldiers, not mere ragtag hackers. Clearly providers of military services for hire. “Contracting out for some unique military capabilities also enables Putin to tap into unique experiences within those firms that includes not only paramilitary capabilities but language (Arabic, Farsi, and Kurdish in the case of Syria) and principally Arabic in the case of Libya, along with exposure to culture that he may have difficulty finding within regular Russian military forces. Most importantly, however, I believe he is looking for deniability above all else, and minimization of blowback in Russia when there is loss of life in war zones that are difficult to explain politically back home. The private firms also enable Putin to expand his resources where unconventional warfare applies, i.e., special forces experience undertaking tailored operational activities, including kinetic actions.” David Shedd, Former Acting Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, in The Cipher Brief.

“Russia’s entrance into pseudo-private military operations came in 2013 with the deployment of 267 Russian contractors for the company Slavonic Corps to Syria. The agreement was reportedly brokered by the Hong Kong-registered Moran Security Group with the Syrian government and blessed by the FSB. The Huffington Post reported that it involved protecting Assad regime assets such as oil and gas facilities to free up Syrian army resources for an offensive against ISIS. But once the Russian contractors landed, they were instead tasked with the combat operation of taking control of the facilities from ISIS’s hands, leading to ill-fated skirmishes against the terrorist group and the public outing of the company, according to the Atlantic Council. 

“Possibly the most prominent Russian PMC to date is the Wagner Group, which, according to the Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor,  is reported to have deployed units to both Ukraine and Syria likely under the direction and funding of Russian military intelligence, the GRU, to test the effectiveness of privatized proxies. While technically private, Wagner seemingly acts as an arm of Russian statecraft and was heavily involved in the fighting in Donbas as well as Palmyra in 2015. Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury Department announcedsanctions against Dmitry Utkin, the founder of Wagner, for recruiting contractors joining separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine. Much of the confusion about the scale and nature of Russia’s direct commitment to the ground battles in Ukraine and Syria is likely due to the deniable component private military companies facilitate.” The Cipher Brief.

To Donald Trump, the fact that within every intelligence agency and every aspect of our military, this is all common knowledge with tons of substantiation, is irrelevant. It is all about “fake news,” and in a way, he is right. These are the most effective spreaders of fake news the world has ever known. And Donald Trump is a believer… in the truth of their fake news. Remember when George W Bush looked into Putin’s lyin’ eyes? Yeah, Putin’s that good! 

I’m Peter Dekom, and in case you were wondering why Special Prosecutor Mueller is spending so much time looking at the “bona fide Russian business contacts” of so many associated with Team Trump…