Russia must stop trying to recruit Serbs to fight in Russia's Wagner mercenary group in Ukraine, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said

Aleksandar Vucic - Serbian lawyer and politician. Aleksandar Vucic was born on March 5, 1970 in Belgrade., quoted by Reuters and BTA.

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He criticized Russian websites and social media groups for posting Serbian-language ads in which the private army "Wagner" is calling for volunteers to join it.

Why do you from "Wagner" call anyone from Serbia, when you know that this is against our rules? Vucic asked late on Monday in a program on Belgrade's Happy TV.

Serbian volunteers fought on the side of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. Their exact numbers are unknown, but observers say dozens of Serbs have joined the fighting since 2014.

Serbian law prohibits Serbian citizens from participating in conflicts abroad, and so far several people have been sentenced for doing so.

A Wagner mercenary reveals brutal truths about the private Russian military company

Vucic rejected claims that Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner Group, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has a presence in Serbia.

Today, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency released video footage showing two masked men it claims are Serbian volunteers at a training firing range in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporozhye region.

Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic also warned Serbs against joining Russian forces in the war against Ukraine.

This will have criminal consequences as soon as it becomes possible for them to be held accountable by state authorities, Vucevic told Radio Free Europe.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

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