Why Mercenaries?

[Wm.Traynor]

Why is or was Russia using mercenaries against Ukraine, instead of its own Countrymen?

[niteowl]

Probably his own people have told him to go .... himself

[Blr243]

I have heard of mercinaries and i Sort of thought i knew what they were , but i googled it just in case before i replied. Hired guns from elsewhere i guess . Im not very politically knowledgeable or war knowledgeable.. i guess its just like hiring contractors to get a job done and if tjey are seen to be vsluable and effective, why not. Im in the construction industry.. if i need help and i cant get anyone i know or im busy and need extra hands ill try someone new from gumtree … and the word mercianries sounds a bit scary .. maybe they are trying to frighten the enemy.

[bigrich]

cause the mercs offer better pay and conditions than the russian millitary . and a lot of the mercs are convicts who are granted pardons after their service is up . that's really backfired on putin today . they've mutineed and left ukraine , taken control of a russian city ,and are threatening to march on moscow

[womble]

Worked for the Romans
Oh wait…

[deye243]

Same reason we do along with the us and the rest of the world

[JohnV]

The main reasons that Russia uses mercs is so the losses of men are never reported officially and never appear in any Government reports or stats . Also those who get killed never get back pay given to their families or pensions , nothing and in many situations like in Syria when they are finished with a group of mercs they sacrifice them so they don't have to pay them up . 2000 wagner mercs got wasted in Syria by US troops because they were told to attack a certain area and the US was in that area .
Also they use mercs to do dirty work more secretly than they can with regular Army troops and they can use mercs to shoot Russian deserters or non compliant retreaters because regular Army might not do it .
They use Chechen's in the same way .

[Blr243]

Interesting on tv tonight the bunch of blokes putting pressure on russia. The wagner group. Are they mercs ( excuse my ignorance i should be paying more attention)

[womble]

What JohnV said
Plus they don’t need a cause. It’s just professional soldiers for hire, ex military and trained up who decide to soldier for a living.
Always work available. At any given time theres always a couple of dozen live conflicts in the world looking to hire. And specialists can get very well paid.
Wagner group moving on Moscow are being led by mercs with a particularly ambitious leader and urging the regular army to join them.

[bigrich]

Interesting on tv tonight the bunch of blokes putting pressure on russia. The wagner group. Are they mercs ( excuse my ignorance i should be paying more attention)

yes , that's them . it's a pretty shady set up . i'm not supprised it's gunna bite putin on the ass

[Larry]

Really as someone else said its like any other business hiring casual workers but one step more removed. You only pay them as long as you need them there are no ongoing fees you dont have to pay for any medical or hospital fees nor provide them its all at arms length. They are not on your books, its not a capital expense its a rental expense, probably can be claimed against your taxes .

[straightshooter]

Why is or was Russia using mercenaries against Ukraine, instead of its own Countrymen?

For much the same reason the US and others use mercenaries and/or proxies.
This most certainly is not an innovation by Russia but it does look like it is generating some kind of blow back.

[Blr243]

So slightly of topic but is the tension build up between the unhappy mercs and the russian military goin to start a big fight in the middle of their own city ? I just want it all to end asap

[womble]

Mixed reports but would appear his demands have been met and advance halted.
Who knows what happens next.

[Billo]

Yeah Wagner and his men have been given Full Immunity.

Putins days are shortened considerably now that we have seen how willing most Russians embraced Wagner and Co

[womble]

That was unreal.
ordinary Russians were coming out to greet them as liberators, giving them food and water. But these guys are just professional people butchers who’ve spent the last 6 months doing just that , and could’nt give a crap about the people.
A force of 25,000 psychos and another 200 km they would have taken control of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.

[mchughcb]

Why is or was Russia using mercenaries against Ukraine, instead of its own Countrymen?

Because only armed with shovels they defeated a NATO trained and supplied standing army. Think how cost effective it is.

The reality is there is a limit to how many Russian's can be mobilized under the current law, without declaring war. The special military operation does allow for full mobilization. Extra bodies for mobilization can therefore be done by PMC and they quite specialized for street to street fighting which is probably the most intense fighting. They certainly have used criminals and I suspect quite a few died. However those that survived 6 months were given a presidential pardon and pay.

I read that Ukraine is also mobilizing prisoners as well so no difference really except probably pay and chances of survival as you will be better equipped.

[Billo]

Wagner had full control of his troops not sure you could say the same for putin

Lol at shovels

[womble]

No no they’re all very much alive and well and pleased with their new pay rise, after their peaceful protest

[northdude]

I guess another thing mercenaries would be useful for is when the war crimes finger gets pointed. Wasn't us it was those guys....

[isaacfm]

Plausible deniability. Also note that in Russia, mercenary groups are basically part of the government's use of force structure, as opposed to free agents hireable by anyone.

[phill55phill]

Why is or was Russia using mercenaries against Ukraine, instead of its own Countrymen?

So they can win against that criminal in Ukraine ,the next sadim/bin ladin/ quadaffi all supported by Biden and bite the hand that fed them

[womble]

Nice try Russian loser

[mchughcb]

Nice try Russian loser

Need some copium? Last time I checked the mercs kicked the NATO Ukrainian army out of Bakmut and they haven't gone back.