A staggering 37 private military companies have ties to the Kremlin, a new study has revealed.
Vladimir Putin has reportedly allowed dodgy companies to flourish in Russia, even though they are technically illegal under Russian law.
The most well known is the Wagner group, which has fought brutally at the behest of Putin in Ukraine.
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Molfar, a Ukrainian open source intelligence group which has analysed Putin’s private armed forces, says: “The main conclusion of the investigation is that all Russian private military companies are linked to the Kremlin.”
“Each of the investigated PMCs [private military companies] poses a direct threat to Ukraine's national security.”
The private armies are seen as allowing Putin to operate outside of conventional military law as he seeks to sew instability around the world.
Seen as mercenary forces, the private companies are used to wage war while allowing rogue states to wash their hands of any responsibility.
Mad Vlad's network of private armies has been operating across all corners of the world, including in Syria and Africa and are thought to be present in over 30 countries.
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“Currently, an extensive system of 37 PMCs operates in 34 countries,” said the report.
“67 per cent (25) of all companies are operating in Ukraine, of which almost half (12) were created and used exclusively to participate in hostilities in Ukraine.”
Wagner itself is reportedly active in 18 countries, while another called Patriot is in seven countries.
Patriot is thought to be an even more brutal incarnation of Putin's shadow forces and is accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings such as that of convicted murderer turned fighter Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, who was bludgeoned to death on camera with a sledgehammer as punishment for alleged treachery.
The use of these wacko groups also allows Russia to deny involvement in their actions, which was especially the case when Russia annexed Crimea back in 2014.
“From the Russian law's perspective, the creation and management of PMCs is an illegal activity.
“However, since all PMCs are subordinate to the Kremlin in one way or another, the members of these organisations are not arrested or subjected to trials,” the report found.
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