Anti-war whistleblowers leaked a list appearing to show Moscow’s plans to draft hundreds of Serbs to bolster its forces in Ukraine, reported the British daily The Guardian.

At the beginning of September, Branko boarded a direct flight from Belgrade to Moscow. After a few days in the Russian capital, Branko, with three other Serbian nationals, was driven to a military recruitment centre in Krasnogorsk, a city on the outskirts of Moscow, where the group signed a contract with the Russian military, reported The Guardian.

“It all went very fast; in one day I became a soldier for Russia … Now I am waiting to be sent to Ukraine,” Branko said in a text exchange with The Guardian on Telegram.

Branko is not his real name, he requested anonymity so he could speak freely, said The Guardian.

The daily said the Serb was part of Moscow’s latest drive to recruit Serbs to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine, as the Kremlin seeks to replenish its forces, depleted by 18 months of fighting.

Based on accounts provided by two Serbian fighters who travelled to Russia, as well as a leaked list of recruited Serbs, the Guardian found that Russian officials appear to have made plans to recruit hundreds of Serbian nationals to bolster the army.

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