Surkov commented on the need for a law on PMCs

Former presidential aide Vladislav Surkov called for a more flexible contract system, but “not to play more like PMCs.” He stated this in an interview with the head of the center for political conjuncture Alexei Chesnakov.

Surkov noted that private military companies are a direct borrowing from Western practice. “Now there is talk again about the law on PMCs. But is it worth legitimizing an institution that is inherently anti-institutional in Russian realities? Here they will pass the law, and a string of enthusiasts will be pulled into high offices. And they will persuade them to allow them to create a private army. And after all, many will persuade, ”- declared Surkov (a fragment of the interview Chesnakov published in his Telegram channel).

According to Surkov, the concept of a private military detachment does not correspond to the political, managerial and military culture of Russia. He believes that if the law on PMCs is adopted, even if it is “well thought out” and secures the subordination of PMCs to the army, it will still “create a dangerous prospect of turning our country into some kind of Eurasian “tribal zone” in the future.

“We don’t need this. Our Armed Forces have a contract system. Make it more complicated, make it more flexible if necessary, but don’t play PMC anymore,” Surkov explained. He notes that Russia has no need for PMCs, since they were created for proxy wars, and military operations in Ukraine are a special operation.

Surkov compared PMCs with private cooperatives that were created at state-owned enterprises in the USSR. “Profits settled in cooperatives, which were controlled and eaten away by the directorate of the state enterprise. And the costs and losses were hung on the state. The result is destruction <…> All “losses” were blamed on the army – both material and reputational. And the PMC gets money and fame, ”explained the former assistant to the president. He stressed that there are many heroes among the PMC fighters, but there are no fewer of them among the “ordinary” military personnel.

Andrey Klishas, ​​Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, also previously declaredwhich does not consider it relevant to develop a separate law on PMCs.

Andrei Kartapolov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, told Vedomosti about the need for a law that would regulate the activities of PMCs, who specified that parliamentarians are now working on such an initiative. In his opinion, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff need to think about how to use the potential of Wagner PMC “to the maximum, but for peaceful purposes”, in particular, the deputy expressed the idea of ​​changing the leadership in the company.

On the morning of June 24, the founder of Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, took control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and blocked the city, and also sent fighters towards Moscow. Before that evening, he accused the Ministry of Defense of attacking the rear camps of the company. The military department denied the information and called it a provocation. The FSB opened a criminal case against Prigozhin on armed rebellion.

On the evening of June 24, after negotiations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin announced that he had decided to stop the movement towards Moscow and return to the rear camps of PMCs. After that, the Kremlin said that an agreement was reached that the criminal case against Prigozhin would be dropped, and he himself would move to Belarus.