Russian armed forces veterans and mercenaries from Russian private military companies (PMCs) have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague to investigate Russia"s secret deployment of civilian contractors in Syria, Ukraine and Africa, a paramilitary leader told Reuters in a recent interview.

The recruitment of civilians to fight abroad is illegal in Russia, and the Kremlin has repeatedly denied reports of thousands of Russian private contractors fighting alongside government forces in Syria. Over 100 Russian civilians were killed during the campaign, according to people familiar with the mission. However, the ICC has no jurisdiction over Syria and has never handled any cases like this before.

More than a dozen Russian veteran organisations have written to Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor of the Hague-based ICC investigating war crimes, according to Shabayev, who says he personally knows dozens of people who have been on such assignments.

It was not immediately clear whether or how the ICC would respond to the group"s message.

The ICC has jurisdiction only when a country"s own government is unwilling or unable to prosecute an extremely grave crime, and only over crimes committed on the territory of its member states. Russia is not a member.