Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has reacted angrily to attempts by the Russian mercenary group Wagner to recruit fighters from his country for a mission in Ukraine. “Why are you doing this with Serbia? Why are you calling on von Wagner to do this, even if it’s against regulations?” Vucic asked in a television interview broadcast on Monday night, according to the agency. Beta news.
Vucic’s comments are a rare criticism of the Serbian president regarding Russia – Moscow is a close ally of the Balkan country. The controversial ad was broadcast earlier this month on the Serbian branch of Russian state broadcaster RT. In it, the mercenary force called on the Serbs to fight in Ukraine.
A small number of Serbs fought alongside Russian-backed forces in Ukraine after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in spring 2014. Authorities have yet to publish an exact number.
On Tuesday, Russian news agency Ria Novosti published footage purportedly showing two Serbian nationals taking part in weapons training in Ukraine.
Along with Belarus, Serbia is the only European country that does not support Western sanctions against Russia, although Vucic’s government has condemned the invasion. Many Serbs support the Russian attack on Ukraine, and there have also been pro-Russian demonstrations in the capital Belgrade.
The Wagner mercenary group was founded in 2014. Wagner fighter jets have been deployed in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, among other places. Russian mercenaries also played a major role in the attack on Ukraine launched in February 2022.