Russian giant Gazprom gets the green light from the Kremlin to create its own Wagner-style militia

The voucher was unveiled by Ukrainian intelligence services. It is signed by the head of the government of the Russian Federation, Sergei Mishustin and dated February 4. The gas and oil giant Gazprom, 450,000 employees, more than 80 billion in turnover before the war, the first Russian company, is therefore authorized to create a private military company within it to defend itself. This militia will be 70% controlled by Gazprom, the parent company, and 30% by a private security company called Staff Center. Officially, private militias are banned in Russia. But there are plenty of exceptions. In the energy, gas and oil sector, the law has in fact authorized it since 2007. But you still have to file a request with the political authorities. The whole question is to know what will be the field of action of this militia. Will it be content to protect Gazprom’s energy installations? Or will it go to theaters of external operations, we are obviously thinking of Ukraine?

27 private armies in Russia

In fact, these private armies are increasingly numerous in Russia: the country has at least 27, in addition to the regular army. The best known is the Wagner group and its 50,000 men, under the leadership of Evgueni Prigojine. But there are many others. The Chechen Ramzan Kadyrov has his own group, estimated at 12,000 men. Orthodox Patriarch Kirill gave his blessing to a religious unit, the Cross of St. Andrew. We can also mention “the Sparta battalion”, “the Slavic corps”, “the Cossack unit” with each time a few thousand men. And it is estimated that at least 11 of these 27 militias are fighting in Ukraine. Their relations with the Russian regular army are vague: at the same time auxiliary forces, sometimes elite forces and also competitors of the regular army. It goes even further: within the army, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu now also has his own unit, the Patriotic Military Company.

The emergence of warlords

These private armies allow Vladimir Putin to clear himself of certain abuses. The process is well known: “We are not aware of the existence of these groups, so we are not responsible”, says the Kremlin. The technique is proven in the African countries where Wagner operates. But now, these militias operate more and more openly. And their multiplication says a lot about the fear of political, military or economic leaders. Each constitutes its own army both to protect itself and to increase in power, with the risk of a rivalry, of competition between new warlords. Ultimately, this is a potential factor of internal instability for Russia. Everything depends on the mastery of Vladimir Putin, direct or indirect, on these different private armies.