More than 200 people, including dozens of children, attended a religious ceremony and speeches marking the Day of Russian volunteers who died during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), an event that was covered by Russian state television.
Several pro-Russian organizations, whose representatives previously invited volunteers to the war in Ukraine, veterans’ organizations from Republika Srpska (RS) and Serbia, and one former Russian volunteer who fought on the side of the Army of RS during the war in BiH, attended the celebration of the Day of Russian volunteers, in Visegrad on Friday, an event that is included in the calendar of significant historical dates in the RS.
The citizens present, including children from a high school in Visegrad, gathered around the monument to Russian volunteers at the military cemetery above the city. After laying flowers and singing the anthems of RS, Serbia and the Russian Federation, a religious ceremony was held where 38 names of Russian volunteers who died during the war in BiH were mentioned.
At the beginning of his speech, the Mayor of Visegrad Mladen Djurevic thanked the fallen Russian volunteers.
“They built their lives into the foundations of the RS and thus confirmed their brotherly love for their Orthodox brothers. It was a confirmation that we are not alone – the unity of the Serbian and Russian people has been strong for centuries, and the mission is to preserve the harmony of Orthodoxy. Russians deserve the love and respect of our people. These days are a guide to strengthen our ties even more”, said Djurevic, among other things, and concluded the address with “long live Russia”.
This year, there were no members of the pro-Russian organization “Night Wolves”, entity ministers or family members of fallen Russian volunteers among those gathered.
Among those who paid tribute to the Russian volunteers was Igor Stefanovic, a member of the “Rusov” organization, whose leader Andrei Rodionov in 2022 called on pro-Russian Ukrainian volunteers “to contact him” via social networks.
It was previously written about how Rodionov shared photos on his Vkontakte profile with Damjan Knezevic, a representative of “People’s Patrols”, a right-wing organization from Serbia that previously organized protests in support of Russia in the war against Ukraine, which is “fighting against the Nazi pro-Western government “.
The State Prosecutor’s Office opened the case in 2022, after receiving a report from the Association “Woman – Victim of War” regarding the announcement “Celebration of the Day of Russian Volunteers” on April 12th.
An earlier investigation by journalists revealed that the Visegrad rally was attended by former Russian volunteers who play important roles in the associations of today’s pro-Russian fighters in Ukraine. The research revealed that some of the former volunteers, who come to Visegrad, in this city openly promote going to a foreign battlefield in Ukraine, although encouraging them to join a foreign military formation is prohibited by law, Detektor reports.
E.Dz.
