Based on accounts provided by two Serbian fighters who travelled to russia, as well as a leaked list of recruited Serbs, the Guardian found that russian officials appear to have made plans to recruit hundreds of Serbian nationals to bolster the army.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, russia has introduced a series of laws to lure foreign citizens to join its ranks.
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Pro-russian sentiments run especially high among Serbia’s ultranationalist groups, who have organised a number of pro-Moscow rallies since the start of the war in Ukraine.
While the number of Serbs recruited so far does not appear to be significant enough to make a tangible difference on the battlefield, Moscow’s actions risk straining its relationship with Serbia, one of its few allies in the west.
Leading the Serbian recruitment scheme, was Davor Savičić, a Serb who has spent years fighting as part of russia’s incursion into Ukraine in 2014. Savičić has also been linked with the Wagner paramilitary group.
"We are now officially signing a contract with the russian ministry of defence. Soldiers go through the Krasnogorsk military registration and enlistment office. After additional training, the guys are sent to the Luhansk direction," he said.
Another Serb, Deyan Beric, told that the Serbian fighters had enlisted as part of Russia’s 106th airborne division. "Most of the foreign volunteers in the russian army are from Serbia," he added.
The Serbian defence minister, Miloš Vučević, warned Serbs against joining russian ranks. More than two dozen Serbian have since been prosecuted.
"The risks of criminal prosecution for those who have gone to russia and returned to Serbia is very high," a russian war veteran, Viktor Zaplatin said. "There have always been volunteers from Serbia in russia. This means that there are volunteers there now, but the number and in what capacity they participate and serve is an organisational secret."
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