“Why are you doing this to Serbia? Why are you calling on Wagner to do this, even though it’s against the regulations?” Vucic asked in a TV interview broadcast on Monday evening, according to the Beta news agency. The controversial ad was broadcast earlier this month on the Serbian branch of the Russian state broadcaster RT. In it, the mercenary force called on Serbs to fight in Ukraine.
A small number of Serbs have fought alongside Russian-backed forces in Ukraine after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in spring 2014. The authorities have not yet published an exact number. On Tuesday, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti published footage purporting to show two Serbian citizens taking part in weapons training in Ukraine.
Alongside Belarus, Serbia is the only European country that does not support the West’s sanctions against Russia, even though Vucic’s government has condemned the invasion of Ukraine. A not inconsiderable number of Serbs supported the Russian attack on Ukraine, and there were also pro-Russian demonstrations in the capital, Belgrade.
Kremlin: No conflict with Wagner group
Tensions between the Kremlin and the Wagner group in the Ukraine only recently became apparent – these were later denied by Moscow. The disputes are a product of the media, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday. The conflict between the mercenaries and the Russian army “exists only in the newsroom,” Peskov said.
“It (the homeland) also knows its heroes who serve in our armed forces and perform heroic miracles there, and it knows the heroes of Wagner! One as well as the other will remain in our memory forever,” the Kremlin spokesman was quoted as saying. Everyone would “fight for their fatherland”.
The discrepancies between the Russian army and the Wagner mercenary group, noted by numerous observers, had come to light in the past few days during the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Soledar: The head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had repeatedly claimed that fighting was exclusively in the city his units against the Ukrainian armed forces – and not also the soldiers of the Russian army.
Bloggers commented on the public dispute
When Prigozhin reported the capture of Soledar on Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense initially objected and two days later reported the capture itself. Prigozhin then published a message attacking those “who are constantly trying to steal our victories.”
In a rare move, the Russian Defense Ministry then issued a public statement praising the “courage” of the Wagner fighters in Soledar. The apparent dispute has been widely commented on by Russian military bloggers. Many of them support the Russian military offensive in Ukraine but criticize the way it is being conducted.
Tensions “product of information manipulation”
Any information about the tensions between the Russian army and the Wagner group is “the product of information manipulations that are partly the product of our enemies and partly the product of our friends,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov now rowed back. The renewed change of command within the Russian Ministry of Defense had previously caused speculation. For the third time in just a few months, the Kremlin had changed commanders for the Ukraine war.
Shoigu announces restructuring of the army
On Tuesday, Russia finally announced a large-scale restructuring of its armed forces. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke of “big changes” with which Russia apparently wants to significantly increase the effectiveness of the navy, air force and strategic missile troops over the next three years.
Only by strengthening the most important structural components of the armed forces is it possible to ensure the state’s military security and protect new units and critical facilities of the Russian Federation, the Russian defense minister was quoted as saying at a defense ministry meeting.
Known for controversial methods
For years, the Kremlin first denied the existence of the Wagner group, then claimed that the Russian state had nothing to do with the group. Putin’s confidante Prigozhin, as the head of the organization, has only appeared offensively for a few months. He goes in and out of Russian prisons to recruit prisoners for the war.
However, the methods of the Wagner mercenaries have been the subject of international criticism for years. Since 2014, the mercenaries have been active in several countries of strategic and economic interest to Russia, such as Syria and Mali, Sudan and the Central African Republic. They have repeatedly been accused of serious war crimes and human rights violations.
Recently, the Ukrainian press service National Resistance Center (NRC) called for caution about the methods used by Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine. They would increasingly disguise themselves in Ukrainian uniforms, thus deceiving the Ukrainian army. Soldiers should pay attention to certain details in Russian attackers’ uniforms, NRC said. The “Frankfurter Rundschau” (“FR”) also reported that the mercenaries wanted to use manipulative strategies to weaken the Ukrainian defense from within.
“Pilots who are not afraid to die”
Prigozhin said in a video message on Saturday that Wagner is now the private army with the most experience in the world. The troops act independently, also have combat aircraft and “pilots who are not afraid of dying”. They also have tanks and artillery of all calibers. The success of the Wagner Group, which is currently deployed in Africa, among other places, is based on an ideally developed command and control system.
Everyone has the right to express their opinion on what is specifically necessary to complete a combat task. The officers listened, coordinated with the fighters, and the leadership exchanged ideas with the commanders. Because of an iron discipline, Wagner will continue to make progress in Ukraine, said Prigozhin.
Member of the Wagner group asks for asylum in Norway
However, there also seems to be rumblings within the mercenary force. A suspected deserter from the Wagner group is said to have fled across the border to Norway and is currently asking for asylum there. As his lawyer announced on Monday, 26-year-old Andrei Medvedev fled across the border in northern Norway at the end of last week. A police spokesman confirmed that a man had been arrested on Friday night for illegally crossing the border and had applied for asylum.
Medvedev’s lawyer Brynyulf Risnes told AFP that after crossing the border, the young man approached residents and asked them to call the police. He is now in a “safe place” while his case is being reviewed. In his own words, Medvedev wanted to “speak to people investigating war crimes about his experiences with the Wagner group.” The 26-year-old stated that he had led a unit of five to ten soldiers in the mercenary force.
Witness executions and punishments
According to Gulagu.net, Medvedev initially signed up for four months in July 2022 and was sent to Ukraine for combat. In the mercenary unit, he witnessed the executions and punishments of mercenaries who refused to fight or wanted to leave the unit. According to his lawyer, Medvedev’s contract with Wagner was renewed without his consent. “He realized there was no easy way out, so he decided to run,” Risnes said.
