Olga Romanova is a Russian journalist and human rights activist who founded the All-Russian organization 'Russia Sitting' fifteen years ago. In an interview with Ekaterina Gordeeva, she talked about the 'setting sun' of the Wagner PMC and new PMCs in Russia.
Romanova has mentioned in her interviews several times that the stars of other PMCs are rising, and she pointed out that almost every decent oligarch now has their own PMC, including Oleg Deripaska and Igor Altushkin.
"There was an official government decree last year allowing Lukoil to create its own PMC. Gazprom already had its own PMC. But I have not seen Gazprom's or Lukoil's PMC on the front lines, yet.
I saw Igor Altushkin and Oleg Deripaska's PMC on the front lines. 'Patriot' PMC is also on the front line, which is Shoygu's personal PMC. There are also PMCs like 'Rys',' 'Sokol' (Falcon), 'Veteran,' and so on, but these are all, in one way or another, units of the 'Redut' PMC.
Our main military figure, the chief militarized person, is Oleg Deripaska. I can understand, for example, why Deripaska wants to occupy Wagner's place. I mean not internally, where Ukraine is involved, but externally because there's a market for bauxite, Africa, etc. You need to have a PMC there. And this is an international pirate practice. Remember 'Blood Diamond' with the young actor Di Caprio. We've seen all of this before. And I think the price for this is participation in Ukraine.
Igor Altushkin and Oleg Deripaska
These private military companies (PMCs) are also replenished with prisoners because they all have contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense. And one has to ask Vladimir Vladimirovich, how can this be a private military company funded by the state's budget? I don't know how that can be.
At the same time, there's no need to worry that Russian prisons will be empty. It's a revolving door of prisoners. Where did these thugs in Russia come from? I believe that not a single, even the most inventive author of this plan, ever thought that any of these prisoners would reclaim something, be pardoned, and return to Russia. That was not the plan. It's just an unfortunate circumstance, a slip-up they are dealing with now. There was no plan for someone like Prigozhin to quarrel with Shoigu and take his thugs away from the front. They were supposed to all disappear and perish there. But they (Prigozhin and Shoigu) had a falling out, and they withdrew the prisoners.
Right now, the Ministry of Defense of Russia doesn't sign contracts for half a year. Only for a year and a half because it's simpler that way.
As for their return to civilian life, I know that they feel their complete impunity. This is the most important thing - the sense of impunity. Many of them have a strong desire, and they don't deny themselves the pleasure of finding the judge who sentenced them or the prosecutor who accused them. In other words, I know of several cases when they are sent to prison again, only this time for making threats.
In addition, these are usually people from small towns. For example, they do not deny themselves the pleasure of coming to the policeman who took them. They know very well that no one will touch them. They can't be touched. You can touch him if he rapes a young girl or kills an old woman. Otherwise, you can’t touch it, because there is a law on discrediting Heroes of a special military operation.
I am constantly defending the Rostov police. Why do people ask, 'Why weren't they there? Why weren't they there? Why did they run away? Why were they scared?' This is when former inmates, who had served in the Wagner group, caused a riot in Rostov*.
* It refers to the Wagner PMC mutiny, as well as the Prigozhine mutiny - an armed uprising of the private military company (PMC) "Wagner" on June 23-24, 2023. It started with statements by the company's owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, directed against the Russian Ministry of Defense, which was perceived by the Russian authorities as an attempted mutiny.
"Why on earth should they take prisoners? They've already taken them. And not just once. So what's the idea? Will the police arrest them, and these (Ministry of Defense) will release them? Moreover, they all (prisoners in the PMC) know that even if they raped minors or killed an old lady, they can simply write an application expressing a desire to participate in the PMCs, and that's it – they are free. And you see them back on the front lines."
