The privatisation of force in Russia is not a new phenomenon. Nor is the practice of active employees of the Russian security services freelancing.
Østensen and Bukkvoll start their story with the Cossacks.
The 1990s witnessed the emergence of a new generation of violent entrepreneurs, as the Soviet state collapsed and members of the security services sought either new employment or to take advantage of new opportunities.
This story of PMCs is concerned with the more recent iteration of a narrower phenomenon.
Varese (2001:59): “In Russian slang, the word for protection is krysha (lit. ‘roof’). It was used during the Soviet period to refer to front activities for Committee of State Security (KGB), Military Intelligence (GRU), and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) agents both in the country and abroad. Cultural institutions, publishing houses, embassies, and ministries all supplied a cover to people engaged in intelligence gathering.” [In other words, PMCs can be thought of as a new form of krysha, even if they are not protection organs, because they are protected]
Safonov (2000:10): In its earliest formal treatment, in imperial Russia, extortion was conceived as a crime committed by officials abusing their office. It was then extended to business relations. However, even in the late 19th century there was no consensus over what the term meant, and different understandings existed in academic literature and legislation.
Safonov (2000:27): 1960 edition of RSFSR Criminal Code specified two types of extortion: the demand to transfer state or public property or the rights to it under threat of violence against the protector of such property or those close to him, the disclosure of embarrassing information, or the destruction of property belonging to them; and similar demands made in relation to private property, with the addition of a possible demand to perpetrate some kind of act relating to property.