Russia’s Wagner Group denies recruiting Serbs to fight in Ukraine

 

Russia’s Wagner Group denies recruiting Serbs to fight in Ukraine

Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group has denied it was recruiting Serbians to fight in Ukraine, a day after activists filed criminal complaints against the organisation in Belgrade.

Among those named in the complaints were Russia’s ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, and Aleksandar Vulin, the head of Serbia’s state Security and Information Agency.

“I do not recruit Serbs,” Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a statement, adding he had never heard of either Botsan-Kharchenko or Vulin.

Earlier this week, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Russia should halt its efforts to recruit Serbians to fight alongside Wagner forces. He said Russian websites and social media groups were publishing advertisements in the Serbian language in which the Wagner Group called for volunteers.