Wanted: multilingual ex-soldiers willing to secretly enter Ukraine for up to $2,000 a day — plus bonuses — to help rescue families from an increasingly dark conflict.
This is not an action movie script, but an actual job ad — taken from a website called Silent Professionals, which focuses on recruiting professionals in the military and private security sector.
And demand is growing. Amid a devastating war in Ukraine, companies and private contractors in the United States and Europe say they are increasingly eyeing opportunities, ranging from “extraction” missions to helping with logistics.
There’s “a market frenzy” for those in Ukraine today, says Robert Young Pelton, an expert on private military companies (PMCs).
But the demand for such professionals — many of them ex-soldiers with the ability to fight and kill — in the midst of a war leaves much room for error and potential for disruption.
Even as Western volunteers join the fight in Ukraine, for which they can expect to be paid the same as their Ukrainian counterparts, money is being moved by private interests to security services like the one advertised in Silent Professionals.
The recruitment platform does not disclose the name of the hiring company, but, according to Pelton, professionals are being recruited for between US$ 30 thousand and US$ 6 million (R$ 152 thousand and R$ 30 million) to help people from Ukraine.
The highest figure is for entire groups of families who want to leave with their possessions, he says.
The price of evacuations depends on the complexity of the job, explains Tony Schiena, CEO of Mosaic, a US-based intelligence and security consultancy that already operates in Ukraine.
“When there are more people, the risk increases. Children and families are more difficult. It all depends on the methods we use. [para a retirada]”.
Mosaic’s missions are largely guided by intelligence rather than armed confrontation, says Schiena, a former South African intelligence agent whose company has former high-ranking US intelligence officers at its helm.
Mosaic is currently working with private customers, corporations and politically exposed people — to help evacuate them from Ukraine, Schiena adds to the BBC.
He mentions that an “intelligence agency of a very large country” that wanted to take out its citizens was among his clients.
“Depending on how the conflict plays out, I think there will be a constant demand for PMCs,” he says. “There is a constant need, and as [a guerra] increases or decreases, there will always be something we are asked to do”.
Private military and security companies have been around for decades, but they really became known to the public during the Iraq and Afghan wars after the 9/11 attacks, acting on behalf of governments and commercial interests.
At the height of the Iraq war, tens of thousands of private security companies such as Blackwater operated in the country. Tasks ranged from armed missions, such as protecting convoys, to feeding and housing troops at military bases.
Blackwater has been in the international news after being involved in a series of incidents, including the shooting deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians by its employees in Baghdad in 2007.
In Eastern Europe, private companies have long been used to protect wealthy individuals and corporations.
During the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, several companies were also contracted to help equip, train and organize Bosnian and Croatian forces — all with the blessing of the US government.
Because of the nature of this industry, it is difficult to track the number of hires and money, but it is undoubtedly a growing industry.
A report by Aerospace & Defense News revealed that the global private military and security industry will be worth more than US$457 billion in 2030, nearly double the US$224 billion trillion) in 2020.
Security or mercenaries?
Foreign military security says they are not fighting in Ukraine.
Some say they are being sought out to help NGOs and humanitarian organizations in Ukraine or neighboring countries that need people with specialized skills and experience working in harsh conditions in conflict zones.
“Most of the people I’m sending are doctors, medical assistants, paramedics, nurses, and former special operations — or non-special operations — personnel who have experience in the field and are combat veterans,” says Mykel Hawke, a former officer. of US special forces who served in war zones.
These service providers are governed by the laws and regulations of their own countries, says Christopher Mayer, a former US Army colonel who worked with PMCs in Iraq.
They must protect people, places, or property, rather than engaging in direct combat.
Many who work in this sector get irritated when they are accused of being “mercenaries”.
“It’s the same kind of work that exists in the United States and elsewhere,” says Mayer. “The difference is that in conflict areas, the likelihood of having to use lethal force is much, much higher.”
In practice, however, this line is fine.
“Whoever has the skill set to be a service provider like that has the skill set to be a mercenary. There is no clear dividing line between the two,” says Sean McFate, a former US paratrooper who has served in Africa and elsewhere. “It all comes down to market circumstances and the decision of the individual.”
“People talk about legitimacy and who the customer is. None of that matters,” he adds. “If you can do one thing, you can do the other.”
The proliferation of PMCs can lead to both “chaos” and good, he warns.
“Mercenaries historically prolong the conflict for profit”, he opines. “It could get to a point in the middle of the century where super-rich people have private armies, and I’m not sure how that’s going to turn out.”
Examples of such companies directly involved in the frontlines of the armed struggle include South Africa-based Executive Outcomes, which fought on behalf of the government of Angola and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
London-based Sandline International has acted in conflicts in Papua New Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
And members of Russian mercenary groups would be on the ground in Ukraine.
But Simon Mann, a former British special forces officer and founder of Executive Outcomes and Sandline, tells the BBC the prospect of using Western private fighters for offensive missions in Ukraine is “highly unlikely” and would raise complicated legal and organizational issues.
“How would they be financed? How would they be commanded? Where would they fit into the Ukraine fight?” he asks. “Would they be properly registered with the national military before any operation? If not, what would their legal position be? What if there are casualties? What about medical coverage? Is there death and disability insurance?”
Mann — who spent several years in prison after being accused of leading an abortive coup in Equatorial Guinea in 2004 — says he is aware, however, of evacuation missions that charge £10,000 per person, “mostly organized by PMC-type people who happen to have local contacts.”
Some warn that even private rescue missions in Ukraine can be dangerous for service providers and customers alike, and that the industry is rife with people who lie about their ability or experience.
Orlando Wilson, a former British soldier and long-time private security guard, describes most discussions around the role of private security in Ukraine as “nonsense”.
“I don’t see how people can operate in Ukraine at the moment, at least not privately,” he says.
“Anyone caught by either side or one of the militias will be seen as a spy and that’s it,” adds Wilson. “It wouldn’t be safe for either the service providers or the customers,” she concludes.
