The Russian authorities are recruiting foreigners for the war in Ukraine, despite Putin’s statement that the Kremlin does not need “people from outside”. In particular, citizens of Serbia and other Balkan countries are being recruited into the occupying army. About 100 people sided with the aggressor country. Currently, the scheme for recruiting mercenaries is frozen, the BBC Russia reported.
Mercenaries from Serbia sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense and go to war as part of the 106th Airborne Division.
“We are now officially signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense, we are going through the Krasnogorsk military commission,” said Serbian citizen Davor Savicic, who formed a platoon of Serbs as part of the Wagner group in 2014.
Serbs living on the territory of Russia participate in recruitment. In particular, Savicic promised to form a full-fledged Serbian brigade as part of the 106th Airborne Division by the fall of 2023. However, it was not possible to implement the plan. It should be noted that mercenary is a criminal offense in Serbia.
Apart from that, the Russians have also recruited more than 100 Cuban citizens since the beginning of the year, the Institute for the Study of War said. Foreigners joined the same 106th division of the Airborne Forces of Russia in the summer. “This indicates that the 106th Airborne Division probably suffered heavy losses from fighting in Ukraine,” the analysts say.
At the same time, Russia continues to mobilize Ukrainians who received a passport from the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories. “Russian authorities are threatening civilians with Russian passports eligible for conscription with fines and detention for not appearing. … Russian authorities and occupation administrations continue to conduct forced passportization and mobilization in occupied Ukraine,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
Cover: AFP
