The activities of a Private Military Company (PMC) traditionally involve 3 other parties: the Contracting State (which enters into a contract with the PMC and defines the mission), the Territorial State (where the PMC will operate) and the Home State (which has the PMC headquarters under its jurisdiction). While Western Contracting States generally recognise the Montreux Document (which reaffirms the international legal obligations of States) and Western PMCs observe the self-regulatory ‘International Code of Conduct’ (which serves as the governance and oversight mechanism), Russian PMCs operate in absence of any regulatory provision or national legal framework. De facto, this means that Russian PMCs determine their own ends, ways and means, which do not necessarily coincide with the strategic priorities of the Kremlin or any other contracting party.
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