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2018-03-30 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Russian Siloviki Fight for Control of Still-Illegal ‘Private’ Military Companies
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[TheJamestownFoundation] The Federal Security Service (FSB) as well as Russian military intelligence (GRU) have both been stepping up their efforts to gain control over the country’s private military companies (PMC).
As is so often the case in this kind of intra-elite competition in Russia, the standoff between the military and the FSB/GRU is not being driven by them directly, but rather by two nominally independent groups, which are in fact surrogates for the two sides: the defense ministry–connected Voluntary Society for Supporting the Army, Airforce and Fleet (DOSAAF) and the FSB/GRU-linked Union of Donbas Volunteers. Both organizations are taking the lead in promoting the legalization of PMCs by the Duma (lower house of parliament). If PMCs are legalized in one particular way, that will tilt control away from the defense ministry; if in another, it will ensure that the ministry retains a dominant position.
According to Moscow-based military expert Aleksey Tarazevich, the fight over such new legislation, which remained in the background during the presidential campaign, is now set to become public with new force (Dailystorm.ru, March 22; Newizv.ru), March 23). “Formally,” he writes, “DOSAAF is a non-governmental organization, which, nevertheless, is connected with the state” and especially the defense ministry. Earlier this month, DOSAAF’s deputy head, Nikolay Staskov, “indirectly confirmed” both that it has the capacity to train private military companies and has developed its own draft legislation to legalize them (Omvesti.ru, March 3).
Other pieces of draft legislation, including some prepared by those close to the Union of Donbas Volunteers, which is close to the intelligence agencies, have been floating around for some time. According to Tarasevich, neither the pro–defense ministry version offered by DOSAAF, nor the pro-FSB or pro-GRU versions offered by the Union of Donbas Volunteers gained much traction in the Duma, because the Kremlin did not want the issue to surface during the presidential campaign lest it raise questions about Vladimir Putin’s intentions. Now with that campaign over, the situation has changed. 
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Posted by 3dc 2018-03-30 00:00||
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