Bosnia and Herzegovina still lacks a judicial outcome regarding the Russian training camps for foreign nationals organized near Banja Luka in the summer of 2024. However, Moldova uncovered shocking evidence about Russian mercenaries who trained Moldovan citizens to instigate unrest and conflict. Routes, plans, and weapons were discovered, but the identities of domestic actors remain unknown.
Groups of foreigners were brought to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as tourists, but were actually there for training. Republika Srpska was seen as a safe area for the Russian instructors. Near Banja Luka, reportedly on paintball fields, as established by the Moldovan judiciary, former Russian soldiers and intelligence officers conducted specialized training in paramilitary camps. The training covered various forms of destabilization, confrontation with police, use of weapons, manufacture of incendiary and explosive devices, and the use of drones to transport and launch explosives.
Training and Sabotage
Denis Džidić, Executive Director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH), warns that participants were tasked with serious acts of sabotage.
“We saw that very serious acts of sabotage were assigned – to go to neighboring countries, Serbia, Croatia, and even the European Union to photograph embassies and to launch drones. They were taught to make bombs. I think it is very significant that something like this has been happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a long time, and that groups have come and gone multiple times, while our Prosecutor’s Office is doing absolutely nothing about this issue,” Džidić said.
No Response from the Prosecutor’s Office
This has been the case for months. The official response from the state Prosecutor’s Office is that they are translating documentation from Moldova, without providing any details about the persons who helped organize pro-Russian camps or whether anyone was questioned, taken into custody, or investigated.
Zukan Helez (SDP – Social Democratic Party), the Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that it is unacceptable for such activities to be conducted without a proper response from the institutions.
“Preparing in one country to carry out actions in another, while the country where everything is prepared remains calm and does not react – that is unacceptable anywhere in the world. That is why I think the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Intelligence-Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and all security and police agencies should have investigated this thoroughly, arrested those who made it possible, and determined who was behind those camps,” Helez stated.
Verdicts in Moldova
The Moldovan judiciary suspects more than 80 people of participating in camps aimed at overthrowing the pro-Western government and country. Twenty people have been indicted, and currently, eight of them have received verdicts in three cases. Maps, lists of participants, rubles, euros, SIM cards, and USB devices were found. Eleven Russian paramilitary mercenaries were also identified, including members of the Wagner Group.
Eldan Mujanović, a professor at the Faculty of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Security Studies at the University of Sarajevo, believes this case seriously damages the credibility of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“On a wider global scale, this is a serious attack on the credibility of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because something that is happening on our territory is being prosecuted in Moldova. The institutional response was expected, given that this concerns a severe case of undermining national security,” Mujanović said.
Breaches of Security
The institutional negligence and security breaches once again demonstrated that Russia, through the authorities of Republika Srpska, despite the proven existence of Russian camps, views this as anti-Russian and anti-Serbian propaganda, and sees Bosnia and Herzegovina as a testing ground for destabilization.
Sandi Dizdarević, professor of criminal psychology and security expert, explains the broader context of intelligence activities.
“Professional intelligence agents, whether military or civilian, are often placed at universities for a period of time, where, through the academic community contacts with national institutions and individuals who can be influential, support for such camps is secured,” Dizdarević said.
From civilians to street fighters, a secret operation to create chaos in Moldova – and more broadly in the European Union – lasted for months, in parallel with attempts to establish a new legal and political order in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thus, the question for the judiciary is whether the actors from the camps crossed the border under the security radar by accident or by design.
