(De)legitimization of Private Soldiers without Legal Status: The Case of Ukraine

For several decades, the increased need for but the illegality of mercenaries led Western countries to favor the evolution of these private soldiers into corporate forms under the name of private military contractors (PMCs). While the number of new Western PMCs was increasing and their use was being attempted to be legitimized, underfitting mercenary-like PMCs, such as those in Russia, were condemned as illegal and illegitimate. Russian forces' renewed invasion of Ukraine in 2022 marked the beginning of the argument about the legality and legitimacy of the use of private soldiers once again. This article aims to reveal if the Russo-Ukrainian war tends to contribute to the legitimization efforts of Western PMCs positively or negatively by exploring the changes in the qualities distinguishing between Western and mercenary-like PMCs. The study concludes that the Russo-Ukrainian war undermined the legitimization course of Western PMCs in the first half of 2022, whereas, in the second half, it has served the legimization efforts.