BELGRADE (Reuters) -Europe must start seeing Ukraine as a European country, and the Ukrainian military as a European army, Ilya Yashin, a prominent Russian opposition activist, said in Belgrade on Friday.
"The Ukrainian army is not only protecting Ukraine, it is protecting Europe from Russian aggression," he told hundreds of Russians who now live in Serbia.
Yashin was imprisoned in 2022 for criticising Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and released last year, alongwith 15 other prisoners in Russian and Belarusian jails.
His speech at a Belgrade concert hallwas the firstsuch public appearance of a high-profile Russian dissident in Serbia since 2022.
Between February 2022 and 2024, more than 74,000 Russians registered for temporary residence in Serbia, according to the latest Interior Ministry data, many fleeing conscription or persecution for their opposition to President Vladimir Putin.
"This is a meeting with a true hero," said Petr Nikitin, a Belgrade-based Russian and an anti-war activist who came to hear Yashin.
Serbia's relations with Moscow soured this year after Russia's SVR spy agency complained about sales of ammunition to Ukraine, and Yashin's visit would likely further complicate their ties.
The Russian embassy to Serbia could not be immediately reached for comment.
Serbia, which aspires to join the European Union, balances its policies between its historical ties to Russia and the West.
Belgrade has repeatedly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow.
In May, President Aleksandar Vucic travelled to Moscow to meet with Putin and attend a parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War Two.
ButBelgrade also recognises Ukraine in its entirety, including territories held by Russia. In June, Vucic visited Ukraine for the first time.
Russia remainsSerbia's biggest gas supplier, and theBalkan country's only oil refinery is majority-owned by Gazprom and Gazprom Neft.
(Aleksandar VasovicEditing by Rod Nickel)
