According to The Telegraph's findings, a new generation of Serbian nationalists is preparing for armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hundreds of extremists are traveling to Ukraine, where they are fighting on the side of Russian forces, believing that Russia will return the favor in helping them regain lost territories, primarily Kosovo.
Among them are veterans of the Bosnian war who are using social media to invite young Serbs to join them. Some are even offering around £23.000 to sign up and take part in the fighting. There are serious fears that these fighters, upon returning to Bosnia, will incite a new paramilitary conflict, three decades after the end of the war in the 1990s.
A typical example is Dario Ristić, a Serbian nationalist who returned to Bosnia with a prosthetic leg and new Russian citizenship after being injured in Ukraine, where he was a member of the "Perm Bears" unit. There, he was known by the nickname "Fast", and carried out sniper and drone attacks, including in Avdiivka.
Ristić has skillfully used TikTok and the Russian social network Vkontakte to glorify the war and spread nationalist messages among disaffected youth at home. His unit even sent a birthday card to Ratko Mladić, a convicted war criminal serving a life sentence in The Hague. In a video on Telegram, Ristić and his comrade say: “When we are done with the NATO fascists here, we will return to reclaim our sacred places and what is ours. Glory to God and Mother Russia!” Upon his arrival in Sarajevo, Ristić was arrested for participating in a foreign paramilitary formation, but was soon released under house arrest until the end of his trial. With over 10.000 followers on social media, he remains considered a recruitment threat.
The main bearers of this ideology are veterans of the Bosnian War, who pass on their divided views to the younger generations. According to analyst Srećko Latal, these extremists believe that Russia will one day repay its debt "with blood" and help create a Greater Serbia. Although they are few in number, they attract disaffected young men, and a small number of armed individuals are enough to disrupt the peace, similar to the old IRA.
One of the more influential veterans is Davor Savičić, known as "Vuk", a former member of Arkan's Tigers, responsible for numerous crimes against civilians in the 1990s. He fought in Crimea, Syria and Wagner, and according to leaked documents, he was also a colonel in the Russian intelligence service GRU. Under his leadership, the GRU set up shell companies to facilitate travel and avoid detection for volunteers from Serbia and Bosnia.
Investigative journalist Nino Bilajac infiltrated their groups and found that the offers were increasing - he was recently offered £23.000 upfront and around £2.500 a month. For young men from poor areas like Modriča, where wages are low and unemployment is high, such offers are very tempting, despite laws prohibiting participation in foreign conflicts.
One of Ristic's friends still at the front demanded £100.000 for an interview. In Modrica, where the main employer is a sanctions-hit Russian refinery, Ristic boasted about his Russian disability benefits and planned to open a drone center. His return has unsettled the local Bosniak minority.
Edib Zilić, who survived the war as a child, says that victims still encounter perpetrators, and that a minority of extremists want intimidation and a return to the dark days, but that they refuse to live in fear.
There are also concerns about possible state involvement - Milorad Dodik was photographed with "Vuk" Savičić before his meeting with Putin. There are also concerns about British security: Republika Srpska is allegedly serving as a training base for Russian hybrid operations against the West, including turning peaceful protests into riots and using drones for sabotage - methods that have already been used at airports and sensitive locations in Britain and Europe.
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