De Donbass a Damasco: Empresas militares como instrumento de projeção Geopolítica da Rússia

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the use of Private Military Companies (PMCs) by Russia in strategic locations, focusing on the Wagner Group's involvement in the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. The rise of PMCs, especially in the post-Cold War context, has led to a paradigm shift regarding security and warfare, allowing non-state actors to increasingly gain influence and prestige in the geopolitical landscape. This perspective has emerged through the adoption of unconventional war tactics, primarily through the employment of private military actors in military operations to enhance the chances of success and reduce the human, economic, and political costs of such actions. Thus, the goal is to understand whether the deployment and utilization of the Wagner Group would represent an instrument for projecting Russia's power and influence in these strategic conflict regions. Therefore, it also seeks to question the extent to which these companies would be involved in the analyzed conflicts and the benefits that their use would provide to Russia. To achieve this objective, the work will be based on the conduct of a comparative case study, employing a literature review on topics relevant to the use of these PMCs. Regarding the conclusions, it will be possible to observe that these corporations, in both conflicts, played a fundamental role in operations, taking on various functions beyond merely auxiliary roles, including direct combat, intelligence functions, and the promotion of propaganda and disinformation campaigns. In addition to this, the use of PMCs in these cases also enabled Russia to achieve various gains related to economic, geopolitical, and ideological areas, demonstrating their importance as instruments of hybrid warfare.