Wagner mercenaries helping Serbia to recreate Crimea scenario in the Balkans – President of Kosovo

Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group are working with Serbian paramilitaries to smuggle weapons and unmarked military uniforms into Kosovo.

The relevant statement was made by President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani in an interview with The Telegraph, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Osmani, the alleged preparations by Serbia bear parallels to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, when Russian soldiers wearing uniforms stripped of any insignia, dubbed “little green men”, prepared the way for the peninsula’s seizure.

“They bring in weapons and uniforms but they are not formally part of the Serbian army. Serbia wants to achieve its aims without it being called a military operation,” Osmani told.

In her words, the secret operation is designed to lay the groundwork for a potential hybrid attack by Serbia to grab Kosovan territory.

“If you look at what Putin did in 2014 it is a complete copy cat, it is the same playbook. Initially, he instrumentalised Russians who lived there, then he was creating all kinds of false flag operations and then he sent in these paramilitary groups,” Osmani noted.

The President of Kosovo emphasized that Belgrade continues to stroke tensions in the region, in cooperation with Russia’s Wagner Group, which recently began advertising for Serbian recruits for the Ukraine war.

There is clear evidence that Serb paramilitary groups have been planning and organizing this with Wagner. How many were at the border or inside Kosovo territory, that’s an issue that is still being investigated, Osmani added.

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