‘They Treat Us Like Cattle’

The Kremlin has refused to comment on allegations from a Serbian mercenary and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has turned on Russian military leaders and complained about the inhumane treatment of fighters in the war in Ukraine.

Serbian sniper Dejan Beric made a number of damning allegations in a video appeal published on the social media platform VKontakte. In the clip, he spoke about the treatment of mercenaries serving under Russia’s 119th Parachute and Airborne Regiment as part of a separate unit named “Wolf.”

According to Beric, the regiment’s command calls the Serbian mercenaries “gypsies,” treats them “like cattle,” and asks why they chose to join Russia in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The mercenaries are also made to pay for their equipment, uniforms, and even water, he said.

Beric fought in Ukraine in Russia’s initial invasion of the country in 2014 and recently became a confidant of Putin in the country’s upcoming 2024 presidential elections, due to take place on March 17. He currently recruits Serbs into the Russian military, the BBC Russian Service reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the matter when asked by local publication URA.RU.

Newsweek reached out to Russia’s Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Beric said that before the New Year, the regiment’s command ordered the Serbian mercenaries to storm Ukrainian positions with insufficient equipment, telling them to “capture other weapons in battle.”

When they refused and asked to be transferred to another unit, regiment commanders declared the Serbian mercenaries deserters and war criminals and kicked them out of their dugout, leaving them in the cold for several days without food and water. They were then asked to sign documents admitting to espionage.

“This morning, the military police came to them, entered the dugout, shot in the air, beat the soldiers with rifle butts, broke some of their heads,” Beric said.

Beric said he had appealed to the military prosecutor’s office of Ukraine’s Donetsk and the administration of the head of Chechnya so that the Serbs would be transferred to the Akhmat detachment, but “someone from the 119th regiment does not want this to end well.”

“The command of the 119th regiment is an organized crime group,” he said, adding, “I expect that after this, I will be imprisoned for discrediting the army.”

Beric was referring to stringent legislation passed by Russia’s parliament in March 2022, which imposes jail terms of up to 15 years for intentionally spreading “fake” news about Russia’s army. The Kremlin has used the law to crack down on those who veer away from Putin’s narrative of the war.

In September 2022, Russia charged two of its servicemen—Ilya Karpenko and Valery Kotovich—with “discrediting” the country’s armed forces, according to Pavel Chikov, chairman of the human rights association Agora Legal Group.

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