The leader of a group from Serbia, which caused riots in France and Germany on the orders of Russian intelligence, is hiding in Russia.
After months of research, Radio Free Europe (RFE) located Momčilo Gajić in Moscow, where he was in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in January 2026.
This church is the representative office of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Russia, and Gajić occupies a central place in the church ceremony in the photographs.
Momčilo Gajić, in an investigation by the Serbian judiciary, is suspected of being one of the organizers of a series of racist actions directed against Jewish and Muslim communities in Paris and Berlin in the spring and summer of 2025.
He managed to escape from both the French and Serbian police, and was not among the 11 members of the group who were arrested in Serbia at the end of September of the same year.
According to the verdict of the Higher Court in Smederevo, which RFE/RL has had access to, Gajić led a group from Serbia that caused the riots on the orders of the Russian intelligence service.
Three members of the group pleaded guilty and in December 2025 were convicted in a court in Smederevo of espionage and inciting racial discrimination.
One of the convicted describes Gajić as the organizer of the riot "closely connected to the Russian service", according to court documents obtained by RFE/RL.
The police did not respond to RFE/RL's inquiry as to whether a warrant had been issued for him.
Momčilo Gajić (30) has no previous convictions, has a registered residence in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, and is also known by the nickname "Kaluđer", RFE/RL research has shown.
He did not respond to RFE/RL's calls and letters.
What is known about the leader of the group from Serbia?
The first information about Gajić's role in the incidents in Paris and Berlin emerged in late September 2025, when the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) announced that 11 people had been arrested in a major operation by the police and the Security Information Agency on suspicion of committing crimes of espionage and racial and other discrimination.
"There are grounds for suspicion that MG, who is on the run, acting on the instructions of a foreign intelligence service, organized and trained a group of 14 Serbian citizens on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, whose aim was to violate basic human rights on the territory of France and Germany based on differences in race, skin color, religious affiliation, nationality and ethnic origin," the Ministry of Interior announced on September 29.
The group has carried out several acts of vandalism, including pouring green paint on the Holocaust Museum and three synagogues in Paris, as well as leaving pig heads in front of nine mosques in the city.
In the center of Berlin, near the memorial complex dedicated to murdered Jews, plastic skeletons were being placed.
It is not known whether Gajić is being sought. The French prosecutor's office and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs did not respond to RFE/RL's inquiry about the issuance of an arrest warrant.
The Higher Prosecutor's Office in Smederevo briefly stated that it was still processing this case.
"The case is still in the investigation phase, in which various procedural actions are being taken, which include, among other things, measures to ensure the presence of the defendants, as well as evidentiary actions aimed at establishing all relevant facts," the Smederevo Prosecutor's Office told RFE/RL.
It added that "in the interest of the smooth conduct of the proceedings" it was unable to provide additional information.
What is Gajić doing in Moscow?
There is not much information about Momčilo Gajić in publicly available data.
By investigating digital traces, RFE/RL found his contacts based on his old Linkedin profile.
The phone number connected to the Telegram application is also linked to a profile photo showing Gajić making a phone call.
RFE/RL geolocated the location of the photo shoot in Moscow, where Gajić is sitting near the entrance to one of the oldest markets, "GUM", facing Red Square.
Behind it are flower gardens that are set up during the flower festival in the summer months. The exact time when the photograph was taken cannot be precisely determined.
Another photo found by RFE/RL shows Momčilo Gajić in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Moscow, which is the representative office (sub-prefecture) of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) in Russia.
The photos were shared on their website on January 27, 2026 by the Serbian Orthodox Church's Podvorje, as well as Bishop Stefan (Dragan) Šarić.
A liturgy was held on the occasion of the religious holiday of Saint Sava, which is also the feast day of the church in Moscow.
Momčilo Gajić holds one of the central positions during the cake-breaking ceremony, which is part of the Serbian Orthodox Church's customs.
In the accompanying text, the Serbian Orthodox Church in Moscow announces Gajić as the godfather of the celebration for the next year, 2027. A godfather is a person who, according to the description on the Serbian Orthodox Church website, "takes on the honor of organizing and helping to celebrate the temple celebration."
The text of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Russia states that Gajić is "from Moscow".
The Serbian Orthodox Church did not respond to RFE/RL's question about whether they checked who would be the organizer of one of the largest celebrations in a temple in Russia and how they select a person for this position.
What do the court records reveal?
Upon returning to Serbia, following the incidents in Paris and Berlin, 11 members of the group were arrested and remanded in custody on October 1, 2025.
Three members of the group pleaded guilty and were sentenced to six months to a year and a half of house arrest before the Higher Court in Smederevo at the end of December.
The investigation against other members of the group is still ongoing.
After several statements to the police, Aleksandar Savić, Filip Petrović and Nemanja Ćevap pleaded guilty.
At the end of December, they were sentenced to six months to a year and a half of house arrest by the Higher Court in Smederevo.
They did not respond to RFE/RL's requests for an interview.
RFE/RL had access to the case files, which include statements from the defendants.
The three members of the group who pleaded guilty mostly denied in their statements that they were "fully aware" of the purpose of the incidents.
Aleksandar Savić stated that he knew about Momčilo Gajić because he worked as a waiter in a restaurant in Belgrade that Gajić allegedly ran at some point.
In his statement, he states that they met at the end of April 2025 when Gajić gave him money to pay the group's participants.
Aleksandar Savić testified that he paid for plane tickets, rented cars and provided money for the organization of events, which Gajić paid him in advance or refunded later.
As can be seen from the court rulings, the group members received between 500 and 1.500 euros for their "actions", and everything took place according to Momčilo Gajić's instructions.
"I know that Momčil's nickname is 'Kaluđer' and that he is closely connected to the Russian service. I don't know if it is the intelligence service of the Russian Federation, I understand that his goal is to destabilize the political situation in Europe," Filip Petrović, who pleaded guilty, said in his testimony.
The case files list an unidentified person with the nickname "Hunter" as the second organizer of the group.
According to court records, none of the group members saw this person.
Aleksandar Savić stated that he communicated with him only via audio link.
He also said that the connection was broken when they first heard from each other, which Hunter, according to Savić, commented on with the sentence - "connections often break when we are on the front line."
"In my opinion, Hunter is on the battlefield in Ukraine. I have never seen his face. I assume that he and 'Kaluđer' (Momčilo Gajić) are best friends, collaborators," Savić said in his statement, when pleading guilty.
He added that Hunter "certainly has connections with the Russian service" and that "nothing can be done" without him.
Who is 'Hunter'?
"My assumption is that Hunter is the head of this service and in organizing these activities in Paris and Berlin, but I don't know that for sure. In my assessment, Kaluđer is below Hunter in that organization," Savić also stated.
RFE/RL could not independently confirm that the person nicknamed "Hunter" is among the Serbian volunteers fighting in Ukraine on the side of Russia.
None of the suspects gave his real name, and they call him "Hunter" because, among other things, that was his username on the Zangi app.
The group used this online messaging application to communicate during the actions.
The application was developed by the California-based company "Secret Phone Inc." and, as stated in the description, is primarily used for private, secure communication and the exchange of encrypted text messages, voice and video calls. It is installed without being tied to a phone number and does not store user data.
Momčilo Gajić's user account on the application, according to the testimonies of the convicted members of the group, was "Kaluđer" and "Đuzepe".
Relations with the Serbian Orthodox Church
According to publicly available data, it can be seen that two years before the incidents in France and Germany, Gajić was one of the important guests of the Serbian Orthodox Church, this time in Serbia.
The celebration of the church slava, at which Gajić was the best man, was held on May 22, 2023, at the Ascension Church in Novi Sad, and the liturgy was led by one of the most influential representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop Irinej (Mirko) Bulović of Bačka.
In 2017, Momčilo Gajić spoke about himself in a YouTube show called "The Life of a Gamer" in which he was presented as an employee of an e-gaming company.
In that show, Gajić states that in the eighth grade he met "comrades from the criminal milieu".
"I started doing various things, by various things I mean everything except drugs (…). I was never convicted, I never went to the police for anything I did (…). In November (2012) I was shot at on the corner of Njegoševa Street in Novi Sad, the bullet passed by my forehead and that's when I realized that I would either be dead or I would live," Gajić said at the time.
The show featuring Gajić was filmed in the courtyard of the Kovilj Monastery, near Novi Sad. Gajić stated at the time that he stayed at the monastery in 2012 and 2013 to "treat his gaming addiction."
In that Serbian Orthodox Church monastery, there is a church community called "Land of the Living", which, according to the description on their website, deals with the treatment of addiction through prayer.
The community was founded "with the blessing" of Bishop Irinej of Bačka, and experienced its greatest promotion at a time when the abbot of the monastery was the current Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije (Jovan) Pavlović, who led it until 2014.
Who visits the Serbian Orthodox Church representative office in Moscow?
The Serbian Orthodox Church's representative office in Moscow is headed by Bishop Stefan (Dragan) Šarić. He is the so-called vicar bishop of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
He has the title "Bishop of Remesia", which means that he does not lead a separate diocese.
Before becoming the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church's Podvorje in Moscow in 2018, he was the head of the Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade, the largest temple in Serbia.
Journalists from the investigative newsroom "Detektor" from Sarajevo located Bishop Stefan in the company of Serbian volunteers in Russia.
According to the Sarajevo portal, in April 2025, he was a guest at a charity dinner at the "Subotica" restaurant in Moscow.
The dinner was organized by the Moscow-based Saint Sava of Serbia Foundation. The organization was registered by Serbian volunteers in the Russian army – Davor Savičić and Branko Basara.
Bosnian Serb Davor Savičić, who founded the "Wolves" mercenary battalion before the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was also designated as a colonel in the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, better known as the GRU, an earlier RFE/RL investigation showed.
Also at the dinner was Dejan Berić, one of the most famous recruiters of Serbian mercenaries in Ukraine.
According to "Detector", the event was also attended by two high-ranking Russian officers, including Eduard Shonov, holder of two orders for bravery of the Russian army and a member of the "Time of Heroes" program, initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A month later, in May 2025, Bishop Stefan Šarić received the former president of the Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, who shared a picture from this event on the social network X.
At this reception, in addition to Bishop Stefan and Milorad Dodik, Davor Savičić was also present.
The Serbian Orthodox Church did not respond to RFE/RL's question regarding contacts between Church representatives and recruiters of volunteers for the war in Ukraine.
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