“Telegram channels: Russian campaign to recruit mercenaries from the Balkans”

Dejan Berić, one of the most famous Serbian mercenaries, said in September that a unit was being formed that would include ‘a lot of Serbs’

Journalists from the portal Detektor.ba infiltrated a private Telegram channel for recruiting fighters for the Russian army in Ukraine and communicated with several Serbian mercenaries in Russia.

The infiltration lasted four months, and the Detektor team published the details in a comprehensive report on Thursday. They state that under the name Igor Dimitrijević (28), they monitored recruitment groups and communicated with recruiters from Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

The research showed that the recruitment channels function smoothly despite legal prohibitions. Dozens of people are recruited, usually with the help of mercenaries from the Balkans who have already gone to Russia. Future fighters are promised salaries of several thousand marks, Russian citizenship and benefits for their families.

‘Grandpa here, do you speak Russian?’

In July, Detektor’s journalists made contact with Dejan Berić, one of the most famous Serbian mercenaries in the Russian army, who reports on news on the front on his channels, which are followed by thousands of people. “Good morning, Igor, it’s Deki. Do you speak Russian?”, was one of the first questions Berić asked. Given that he received a negative answer, he explained that only men between the ages of 20 and 49 who know Russian can sign the contract.

The conversation then died down, but a new twist came on September 9. Berić then announced that a new unit was being formed in which “there will be a lot of Serbs”, and the Russian language is not mandatory. “Igor, good day, we have everything set up here, you can go. Call in advance that you have bought a ticket and that you are coming so that someone will meet you,” said Berić in a voice message. He advised Dimitrijević to buy a ticket for a cheaper flight via Istanbul and stated that his money would be refunded.

He also pointed out a strict rule – no pictures, messages or videos are allowed to be sent from Russia, otherwise you will face several years in prison. “Everything is strict. The training is not difficult, nothing complicated,” Berić wrote.

Chetnik volunteer

The journalists also responded to a recruitment ad published in mid-October on the Facebook account “Četnik Dobrovoljac”. The ad included a Russian phone number in the name of Aslan, with whom they soon got in touch. The man in question was actually a Russian, who explained that he was currently serving in the Russian army and that a Serbian friend had asked him to help people from Serbia sign a contract to serve in the army. “We are all brothers,” was one of Aslan’s private messages to Dimitrijević.

As soon as they made contact, they and 10 other people were added to the private Telegram group “SVO” – an abbreviation for the term “special military operation” that Russian officials use to describe the aggression against Ukraine. “Brothers, everyone I added is from Serbia. The chat was created so you can get to know each other, you can negotiate with each other to come to Russia to serve in the army together,” Aslan wrote. A day later, “Četnik Dobrovoljac” was added to the group, who took over the role of administrator.

Although Detektor has not independently confirmed his identity, they determined that this is the person who introduced himself as Željko Tomić in 2024. In a photo from 2023, he posed on the battlefield with Darije Ristić, a volunteer from Modriča who was arrested in September this year after landing at Sarajevo airport. He is charged with waging war on a foreign battlefield in Ukraine, and his lawyer Rade Ćulibrk said that the case is currently in the phase of concluding a plea agreement.

‘God willing, with Russian brothers to Kosovo’

Tomić said that he was returned from the front line to organize the arrival of volunteers. “All of you will be better than me, I know that – I will pass on all my experience to the young people. You are my Serbs and I will not give you up. So, God willing, we will go to Kosovo together with our Russian brothers,” was one of his messages.

It is interesting how Tomić advised the members of the group to state that they are traveling as tourists and reminded them of the position of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić that he would not allow Serbian citizens to join Russian units. “His job is to arrest and prevent us from helping our Russian brothers in the fight against fascism,” Tomić said.

He also explained to the members that upon arriving in the Russian city of Sochi, he would go to Donetsk, to the front line of the battle. He said that a one-year contract is signed, after which 52,000 marks (about 26,520 euros) will be added “for the welcome”. He points out that the training lasts two weeks, and is conducted by experienced instructors. The monthly salary is 5,500 marks (about 2,805 euros).

As a reminder, the media has previously reported on volunteers from the Western Balkans, who began joining Russian units in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. Laws in Bosnia and Serbia prohibit fighting in foreign battlefields and consider it a criminal offense. However, this did not prevent new departures after the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, although the exact number is not officially known.

/net.hr