Oasis Or Training Camp? The Serbian Resort Where Russia Allegedly Plotted Unrest In Moldova

Moldovan police video showed men in combat gear wielding automatic rifles at a complex in Serbia. When RFE/RL’s Balkan Service visited this week, it found donkeys grazing next to rustic thatched huts — and was refused access to the site.

The riverside holiday resort, which describes itself as “a unique oasis for rest, relaxation, sports, and recreation,” was used by Russia to train Moldovan citizens to incite unrest ahead of their country’s recent parliamentary elections, according to officials in Chisinau.

The Serbian authorities have said more than 150 Moldovan and Romanian citizens were trained between July 16 and September 12. Police in Moldova arrested some 70 people six days before voting on September 28, saying that most were schooled at the 8-hectare site.

Serbian prosecutors have said neither the resort nor its owner are under investigation. Staff at the site told RFE/RL that the owner was currently in Bosnia-Herzegovina for health reasons and would talk about the matter when he returned.

In the village of Gornija Konviljaca, where the resort is located, many locals said they had no idea anything was going on. But in a village grocery store, two assistants spoke of Russian-speaking customers during the time period cited by the authorities.

“They were in front of the store, had a drink, we communicated a bit –not much,” said one of the assistants, who gave her name as Biljana. She said they spoke “mostly Russian. They hardly knew English.”

A Riverside Run

But while physical traces of the alleged Russian activity were thin on the ground, RFE/RL has discovered an online trail.

A fitness app registered to a certain Sergei Andreyenkov shows him taking his morning run along the banks of the river Drina on September 8, 9, and 12. Each time, his route started near a restaurant located within the resort complex.

Andreyenkov is an activist for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party who was decorated with a Russian Defense Ministry award in May for “strengthening the defense of the Russian Federation.”

Photos posted online show him delivering military supplies to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine in 2023 and 2024.

Montenegrin news website Vijesti cited a source in the country’s security service as saying that Andreyenkov was an instructor at the alleged training.

Andreyenkov did not respond to messages from RFE/RL requesting comment. Likewise, Serbian and Montenegrin authorities did not respond to questions about Andreyenkov.

Serbian authorities have made two arrests, naming the suspects only as L.P. and S.S. Local media have named them as two Serbian citizens, Lazar Popovic from Belgrade and Savo Stevanovic from Loznica, a town close to the resort.

These men are former advisers to Nenad Popovic, who is minister without portfolio and has been sanctioned by the United States for his ties to Russia. Popovic did not respond to RFE/RL questions about the arrests.

Between East And West

Belgrade has sought to balance traditionally close ties to Moscow with efforts to build partnerships with the West, making this case potentially embarrassing.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said the information about the training came from private sources, not the Serbian security services — hinting at a cover-up.

“If there’s one thing we do well, it’s processing of foreign citizens. It was impossible for us not to notice. We did not notice because someone wanted us not to notice,” he said in an interview with private Serbian broadcaster Pink TV on October 5.

More light will perhaps be shed on the case if and when it reaches court in either Moldova or Serbia.

Moldovan police also released video of a suspect saying he had gone to Serbia. “They taught us to use walkie-talkies, showed us recordings of some Russian rallies, and told us what we should and should not do,” he added.

Moscow has denied any involvement in the alleged camp, and also in similar allegations that Moldova made in 2024 regarding presidential elections that year.

In that case, Moldova said camps were held in Serbia and Bosnia. Belgrade denied the allegations — while authorities in Sarajevo confirmed them. But again, there is no clear evidence in the public domain./,Rferl/