The number of Macedonian citizens fighting for the Russians is increasing

Russian paramilitary groups fighting in Ukraine have an organized recruitment network in the Balkans through which they can find soldiers to send to the front after a short period of training. These are the groups “Wagner” and “Volk”, but also other groups unknown to the international public, which have been active in the region, especially recently.

Recruitment networks for the Russian military are also active in North Macedonia, where several cases of the recruitment of Macedonian citizens and their participation in the war in Ukraine have already been uncovered. On Thursday, the public prosecutor’s office in Skopje announced that two citizens who took part in the war in Ukraine are currently under investigation. According to official information, both are said to have fought for Russian paramilitary groups against Ukraine, one of whom was a member of the private army “Wagner”.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, it has been taking action against people suspected of being involved in the war in Ukraine for some time. In a statement to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Macedonian, the public prosecutor’s office explained that the law stipulates a minimum sentence of four years in prison for the offense of “participation in a foreign army”.

So far, the prosecutor’s office and police have not provided any information on how many people from the country have gone to fight in Ukraine or whether there are organizers recruiting fighters from North Macedonia.

Within a month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) published two notifications about people involved in the war in Ukraine on the Russian side. They also mention the death of a North Macedonian citizen.

The most recent case was reported on December 23, when the police filed a criminal complaint against a 37-year-old man from Skopje (L.B.) who, together with another deceased person (T.Sh.), applied for service in the Russian army using the ‘Telegram’ application.

According to the MUP, the two traveled to Russia in September this year, where they signed a contract with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Donetsk People’s Republic and joined its military and paramilitary formations.

During the raid on the suspect’s (L.B.) house, police found documents, tactical clothing and other items confirming his involvement, according to the MUP. The two suspects were placed under house arrest.

In another case, a 28-year-old (J.K.) had traveled to Moscow in October on 30 November to join the Russian army in exchange for a payment of 3,000 euros. On his return to the country, he was arrested by the Macedonian authorities and charges were brought against him.

The investigation revealed that J.K. He had contacted a recruiter via the internet and upon his arrival in Russia was asked to hand in his passport, sign a contract and begin training for the war in Ukraine.

The authorities did not answer whether these are isolated cases or whether they are part of an organized recruitment network for participation in the war in Ukraine.

There have been cases of involvement in foreign conflicts in the past, such as the war in Syria, where over 140 citizens of North Macedonia officially traveled or attempted to travel to Syria or Iraq to join terrorist groups.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for a decade. It began with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and escalated into a full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

Similar cases have been documented in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. There, fighters were trained and recruited via international networks that had links to the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.

/The Geopost