Why are private military companies playing such a major role in Ukraine?

‘Shadowy groups’ of Western veterans are operating in Ukraine, while Putin leans heavily on the Wagner paramilitaries

Volunteers train with the Mozart Group in the Donetsk region of Ukraine
Volunteers train with the Mozart Group in the Donetsk region of Ukraine
(Image credit: Juan Barretto/Getty Images)

The battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine is raging not only between the traditional militaries of both sides but also private military companies (PMCs) who are increasingly blurring the lines between soldiers and private armies.

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Jamie Timson is the UK news editor, curating The Week UK's daily morning newsletter and setting the agenda for the day's news output. He was first a member of the team from 2015 to 2019, progressing from intern to senior staff writer, and then rejoined in September 2022. As a founding panellist on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, he has discussed politics, foreign affairs and conspiracy theories, sometimes separately, sometimes all at once. In between working at The Week, Jamie was a senior press officer at the Department for Transport, with a penchant for crisis communications, working on Brexit, the response to Covid-19 and HS2, among others.