There is not only Wagner – and that is Putin’s problem

“I doubt the mercenaries will join the Russian army voluntarily,” says Sean McFate, an expert on private armies and an adviser to the Atlantic Council in Washington. According to him, the Russian army has a terrible reputation. In addition, “many” of the so-called PMCs (short for “Private Military Contractors”) would not want to forego their advantages: significantly better pay, freedom. “They’d sooner join other warlords in Africa than give up their privileges in Russia,” McFate believes. And if she forces Putin to cooperate, the country could face “in the worst case a civil war”.