US "Mercenaries" in Ukraine: Is it all just Russian propaganda?

As I stated in my first blog on this issue, recently there have been rumors that US military security contractors have been deployed in Ukraine. There has been much debate in the media over whether or not these rumors are true. One viewpoint proposed by Dr. Nafeez Ahmed, a security expert with the Institute for Policy Research & Development, in an article by Dan Bloom of the Daily Mail was, "it's all Russian propaganda." "It" being the rumors and accusations by the Russian government that US military contractors operating in Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs made the accusation that "about 150 American specialists from the private military organization 'Greystone'" have been deployed in Ukraine. Additionally, the Voice of Russia radio station, has an article on their website saying that the US spends 8 million dollars a month to have it's "private armies" deployed in Ukraine (This fact they cite from the oh so credible source of "British Press").

Russia would have incentive to start these rumors because, according to Bloom, "if a private military security contractor is currently operating in Ukraine it would give Russia some pretext for military invasion."

The exact details on why this is I must admit I don't entirely understand, but of all the possible rumors to spread to indicate just how bad the situation is in Ukraine is and the need for military intervention, it would make sense to start one about US private military security companies. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that the Russian government and media have started these rumors that have been going around in the media, nor am I arguing whether these rumors are true or not.

I'm only exploring this possibility to expose what a bad reputation these private military security contractors have. That's why if Russia did start these rumors as propaganda it would make sense because US PMSCs have such a bad reputation for committing immoral acts in the countries in which they operate. For example, the former PMSC "Blackwater USA" was made infamous after the media found out about the Baghdad shootings. Thus, it would make sense that in many articles including one by RT (a Russian news channel) the title is "'Blackwater' footage: Who are the mercenaries in Ukraine?" when the article later informs the reader that Blackwater no longer exists, it has changed some of it's management and it's name twice once to Xe and now it's called Academi. This is largely due to the bad publicity it's gotten from the horrible acts it's committed I keep talking about (see the somewhat comical and largely inappropriate photo below).

PMSCs have earned a bad rep. (rightfully so) and the media, well aware of their infamy, uses them as a way to get people's attention and maybe even push an agenda.