Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, attracted public attention when on Nov. 23 he said Moscow plans to withdraw some of its troops from Syria by the end of the year, with armed clashes becoming less frequent and negotiations proceeding toward resolution of the civil war. To avoid potential security losses or retreats, however, Russia will outsource the work to private military companies (PMCs) with tactical warfare capabilities equivalent to modern militaries.

It is more accurate to say, however, that Russia will be outsourcing additional work to PMCs, as it has employed them in Syria since 2013. There has been no shortage of reports in the international media since 2016 about Russia's private contractors being killed in clashes.

The first PMC deployed was the Slavonic Corps, fielded by the Hong Kong-based Moran Security Group, a company established by former members of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). It is well known that Slavonic Corps has sent hundreds of private contractors to Syria.

Slavonic Corps' literature says that it provides preventive defensive options to protect critical economic assets. Specifically, it claims to deploy members to protect oil refineries, ports, factories and critical government premises, provide logistics convoy security, and conduct patrols. But numerous reports have stated that the group's contractors were actively involved in combat in 2013 in Deir ez-Zor, Hama and Aleppo.