CYIL 2014

359 / 532

343
PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS, PARAMILITARIES AND MERCENARIES …
from or changes within Ukraine. While there have been no official advances of
international armed forces into Ukraine since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula,
there have been numerous allegations across the media that private military/security
contractors (PMSCs), mercenaries or paramilitaries are on the ground as well, perhaps
at the behest of the United States or Russia. 2 Yet, the exact identity of the States
responsible for the appearance of PMSCs, if any, is at present a matter of dispute
and speculation. On one side, the Russian Foreign Ministry has made allegations
accusing the “Ukrainian military forces of working with ‘illegal armed militias’,”
as well as expressing that it “is ‘especially concerned’ about the involvement of 150
American ‘mercenaries’ from the private company Greystone Ltd., a former affiliate
of Blackwater.”3 Alternatively, there were allegations that “private security contractors
working for the Russian military [were] the unmarked troops who … seized control
over two airports in the Ukrainian province of Crimea,”4 which did have truth to it.
More recently, there have been allegations that Chechen forces are working covertly
in Ukraine. In fact, several reports, albeit still in the form of unconfirmed hearsay
evidence, “from Russia, Chechnya and Ukraine suggest that there is Chechen military
involvement in the eastern part of Ukraine, fighting on the pro-Russia side,” but in
the form of informal military units.5 While the number of Chechens in Ukraine is
hard to gauge and their existence difficult to prove, even a small number could have a
deep significance. Furthermore, there have been media reports that paramilitaries from
Russia are on the ground in Ukraine, supporting the pro-Russian separatists. According
to the American news magazine, TIME, four heavily armed fighters of the Wolves’
Hundred, a “part of the Cossack militias that have been in the service of Russian
President Vladimir Putin for almost a decade,” who are operating in eastern Ukraine,
“have admitted that they came from the southern Russian region of Kuban.”6 As is
often the case with PMSCs and paramilitaries, “[t]heir links to the Russian state are,
however, just tenuous enough for Putin to deny having sent them, and these fighters
in turn deny being paid, equipped or deployed by the Kremlin.”7 Similarly, the United
States has denied any support or connection to PMSCs operating in Ukraine.8
2 See infra notes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8.
3 Kirit Radia, James Gordon Meek, Lee Ferran and Ali Weinberg, “US Contractor Greystone Denies
Its ‘Mercenaries’ in Ukraine,” ABC News, April 8, 2014, available at
greystone-firm-accused-disguising-mercenaries-ukrainians/story?id=23243761.
4 Josh Rogin, “Exclusive: Russian ‘Blackwater’ Takes Over Ukraine Airport,” The Daily Beast,
February 28, 2014, available at
blackwater-takes-over-ukraine-airport.html.
5 Lorena O’Neil, “The Secret Players in the Russia-Ukraine Game,” USAToday, May 20, 2014, available
at
6 Simon Shuster, “Meet the Cossack ‘Wolves’ Doing Russia’s Dirty Work in Ukraine,” TIME, May 12,
2014, available at
7 Ibid.
8 Matthew Schofield, “Rumors of American mercenaries in Ukraine spread to Germany,” Stars and
Stripes, May 15, 2014, available at
mercenaries-in-ukraine-spread-to-germany-1.283154.