Legal status and legal position of private military companies (on the example of the Wagner PMC)

The article provides an analytical assessment of the legal regulation of the activities of a private military company on the example of PMC “Wagner”. The purpose of the article is to study the process of legalization of a private military company in Russia and to consider it as an element of the country’s defense capability system. Achievement of the intended goal was carried out by studying normative legal acts of both the Russian Federation and international ones. The result of the study is the consideration of legal legalization of PMCs, in compliance with international standards, in particular, the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949. The authors also proposed legal recommendations on legal regulation of the legal status and legal position of PMC “Wagner”.