As many as nine Russian contractors died in October when a mortar round hit their base in western Syria, according to several people familiar with the matter. The incident, experts say, shows how Russia has used contractors to perform quasi-military tasks, avoiding the political repercussions of deploying uniformed troops—and steering clear of the domestic concerns that come with the deaths of soldiers . The Russian government hasn’t acknowledged the deaths, described to The Wall Street Journal by three people who have access to information on Russia’s attempt to create its first private military company. “It’s one of Russia’s first attempts at trying to create a private military company like what was Blackwater,” said one of them, Ivan Konovalov, director of a Moscow-based security think tank and a consultant to lawmakers who are trying to create the legal basis for such military companies, which now fall in a legal gray […]