Russia recruits Serbs in drive to replenish military forces in Ukraine

Russian units in Balykchi, Kyrgyzstan. Putin has lowered the length of contracts for foreign recruits from a minimum five years to one. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu/Getty Images

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.