Analysis: Network of the Russian Wagner in the Balkans

The Russian private military company Wagner is once again in the public’s focus since the recruitment attempts in the countries of the Western Balkans, through connections with right-wing organizations.

What is Wagner?

Wagner is a mercenary army founded in 2014 by Russian citizen Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is close to the Kremlin.

That year, Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Wagner is facing possible charges of war crimes in Ukraine, Syria, and some African countries.

Connections with right-wingers in Serbia

The leader of the right-wing ”People’s Patrol” organization from Serbia, Damjan Knezevic, visited the Wagner Military Technology Center in Russia in November 2022.

”People’s Patrols”, the organization he heads, is known to the wider public for anti-immigrant actions and organizing protests in support of Russia in Belgrade after the Kremlin launched an invasion of Ukraine.

In Serbia, one verdict for the war in Ukraine under Wagner

Participating and organizing participation in war in a foreign country has been a criminal offense in Serbia since 2014, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Among the 32 verdicts that Serbia passed against fighters in the occupied parts of Ukraine, in one from March 2017, a Serbian citizen is convicted of fighting in Ukraine on the side of pro-Russian separatists within the Wagner group.

Serbian citizen Dimitrije – Sasa Jojic, who died in the war in Syria in June 2017 fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, was mentioned among the members of the Wagner Group in the media in Serbia.

Intelligence data on the presence of Wagner in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)

The Minister of Security of BiH, Selmo Cikotic, confirmed that intelligence data indicates the presence of the Wagner Group in this area.

On the celebration of the Republika Srpska (RS) Day, which was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of BiH, he warned of the possible presence of members of radical and extremist groups, including the Wagner group, Slobodna Evropa reports.