CYIL 2014

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 http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/ 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 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/28/exclusive-russian blackwater-takes-over-ukraine-airport.html. 5 Lorena O’Neil, “The Secret Players in the Russia-Ukraine Game,” USAToday, May 20, 2014, available at http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/05/20/ozy-russia-ukraine-players/9320009/. 6 Simon Shuster, “Meet the Cossack ‘Wolves’ Doing Russia’s Dirty Work in Ukraine,” TIME, May 12, 2014, available at http://time.com/95898/wolves-hundred-ukraine-russia-cossack/. 7 Ibid. 8 Matthew Schofield, “Rumors of American mercenaries in Ukraine spread to Germany,” Stars and Stripes, May 15, 2014, available at http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/rumors-of-american mercenaries-in-ukraine-spread-to-germany-1.283154.

343