Former presidential aide Vladislav Surkov urges Russian authorities to steer clear of private military companies

Russian politician and former presidential aide Vladislav Surkov has urged the Russian authorities not to pass a law that would allow the state to regulate private military companies (PMCs) like Wagner Group and other similar formations, saying it would be better for the authorities to steer clear of any association with private armies.

In an interview with political strategist Alexey Chesnakov, who is a close associate of Surkov, Surkov called PMCs “a borrowing from American practices.” He questioned the value of a law pertaining to PMCs, asking “Is it worth it to legitimize an institution that in the Russian case is inherently anti-institution?” Surkov argued that private armies are not part of Russia’s political, managerial, or military troubles and “arose only during the Time of Troubles [in the early 17th century] and the Civil War [following the 1917 revolution].”

“If a law on PMCs is adopted, no matter how well thought-out it is, no matter how clearly it states that that PMCs are subordinate to army command and are part of the army and so forth, it will nonetheless raise the dangerous possibility that our country will turn into some kind of Eurasian ‘zone of tribes.’ We don’t need that. Our Armed Forces operated on a contract system. Make that more complex, more flexible if necessary, but don’t play any more with PMCs. After all, PMCs were created to fight in proxy wars. Why do we need them now, when we’re openly fighting for Ukraine? That’s not a proxy war, it’s an SVO [special military operation]. The army needs to be strengthened not only with weapons, but with unity of command,” said Surkov.