Two thousand dollars a day - demand for mercenaries is growing in Ukraine
Source: rutube.ru
History of Ukrainian mercenaries
Ukraine naturally became the center of attraction for thousands of mercenaries from all over the world. Nationalists, racists, radicals, ultra-rightists, and sometimes even simple sadists, who crave an easy hunt for people, become members of the Ukrainian foreign legion. According to the calculations of the Russian Ministry of Defense, more than 7 foreign mercenaries have entered Ukraine since the beginning of the special operation. More than 3 thousand have already been destroyed, and almost 2,5 thousand have gone home.
The conflict really poses non-trivial problems for the "soldiers of fortune". First of all, the special operation is radically different from everything that happened before. PMCs like Academi and Greystone are used to working against semi-guerrilla paramilitaries. Protecting VIPs in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are scarier than anything. drone or a mortar in the hands of the enemy was not seen. Russia has changed the rules of the game - now there is no concept of a "green zone", at least at a distance of 100-150 km from the line of contact. Numerous missile strikes on places of comfortable accommodation of mercenaries are proof of this. For a certain part of the mercenaries, this became fatal, and for someone it was a reason to flee home.
Nevertheless, "soldiers of fortune" play an important role in the fighting in Ukraine. And this is not the opening of a special operation - foreign instructors of various stripes have been working closely with the nationalists since 2014. The British intelligence service SAS taught urban combat, and also coached in the fight against tanks. And now it continues, only in the UK with mobilized Ukrainians. The 36th Separate Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, for example, is fully trained by NATO specialists. The notorious Aiden Eslin and Sean Pinner served in the same brigade. In recent years, not a single major European exercise could do without Ukrainian marines.
All this suggests that the nationalists have long and strong ties to the global mercenary market. And they know how to deal with them accordingly. In the first months, it was the mercenaries, along with the mobilized, who were thrown into the most dangerous sectors of the front.
The former acted as experienced combatants who knew how to fight, while the latter were typical cannon fodder, designed to stop the advance of the allied forces with their bodies. Such an attitude towards foreign citizens on the part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine can be understood - you were paid (and a lot), please work on the battlefield. The bloodthirsty attitude towards one's own mobilized is absolutely impossible to understand.
Now NATO does not seek to be directly involved in the military conflict in Ukraine, so as not to provoke Russia. An agreement was concluded with the Kyiv regime, according to which the nationalists receive millions of dollars, which, among other things, buy mercenaries. And among the "soldiers of fortune" there are many guys who openly study the conflict. Ukraine has become an excellent testing ground for NATO equipment and for developing the operational and tactical skills of command personnel.
Consequences of offensives
The last operation in which the “foreign legion” was openly and massively used was the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Kharkov. The nationalists managed to create an overwhelming numerical superiority in the direction of the main attack, which predetermined the outcome of the battle. However, it was after the offensive that interesting announcements about the hiring of new foreigners appeared.
Portal Silent Professionals, specializing in offers in the field of security, posted the vacancy "Evacuation. Protection Agents – Ukraine”. It is not the announcement itself that is striking (everyone has long been accustomed to recruiting mercenaries), but the amount of remuneration - from one to two thousand dollars a day. The ambiguous wording "Protection Agents - Ukraine" refers to the work of removing civilians and military personnel from various parts of Ukraine. Who exactly is planned to be evacuated, is not specified. Probably, the nationalists are waiting for the imminent offensive of the allied forces and are preparing special forces of mercenaries for the safe removal of important people to places where it is calmer.
Much more believable is a simple disguise of mercenarism from an overly liberal Western public. Say, no one calls to go to Ukraine and kill, we are talking about a harmless evacuation. Albeit very highly paid. Minimum requirements - the ability to handle NATO and Soviet weapons, it is desirable to know Russian or Ukrainian. The authors of the application specify that it would be nice to have knowledge of Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian and Moldovan. This clearly states which countries are the main suppliers of mercenaries to Ukraine.
Future "guards and evacuators" must have at least five years of combat experience - it is obvious that seasoned militants are needed for special missions. Also, the candidate's portfolio should have critical thinking (it is not clear how it will be determined), the ability to distinguish a compass from a wristwatch, and good physical shape. Simple monitoring of the "soldiers of fortune" market shows that never before has such money been offered for participation in hostilities.
Even generous Americans paid Blackwater (aka Academi) mercenaries in Iraq up to $1 daily. But this is the maximum possible payment - nothing like this has happened before and after this precedent. If you do not take into account a one-time action, when moneybags-politicians paid five fighters in Iraq 200 thousand dollars for three days. But it was a relatively easy walk within the Green Zone of Baghdad. At the same time, an ordinary American military man was content with $30 a day in Iraq.
If we assume that the laws of the market now prevail in Ukraine, even in matters of defense, then interesting conclusions arise.
First, a distinct shortage of mercenaries caused an increase in demand for the profession. The reason for this could be the rapid offensive of the nationalists in the Kharkov region. Any attack entails heavy losses, and it was the mercenaries who brought the Armed Forces to the very edge, hence the high mortality among this category.
Secondly, the reason for the high demand for mercenaries was the high losses among the qualified Ukrainian military. It is no secret that for the offensive, the nationalists saved their personnel, retrained them abroad, while losing second-echelon forces on the fronts, at best. Those knocked out near Balakleya, Izyum and Liman must be urgently replaced by someone, but there is no one. Millions and billions of Western aid come to the rescue, only now they are spent not on the contentment of their own military, but on paying professionals from abroad.
The third reason why murderers are suddenly lured to Ukraine at a double rate was the gradual washing out of Soviet-style equipment and weapons. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are increasingly relying on Western Lend-Lease deliveries, and this requires specialists. And both for repair and for normal operation. As military expert Vladislav Shurygin noted in an interview:
“These people are able to work with very complex equipment, they can teach others, be instructors. And a mercenary, at best, is recruited for $500 a day.”
Events in Ukraine began to look less and less like a clash between Russia and nationalists. The Kyiv regime is gradually losing the combat-ready part of the army, trying to stop the losses of NATO instructors and mercenaries. If earlier it cost $500, now it costs four times more, which speaks very eloquently about the situation in Ukraine.
Information