Russian suspected of being one of the instructors of the Moldovans at Banjaluka to be expelled

A Russian citizen who was arrested by the police of the Unsko-Sanski Canton in Bosanska Krupa on 16 November will be deported from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Foreigners Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed to Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL).

The man in question is, as said, a Russian citizen, Alexander Bezrukava, who is suspected of being one of the Russian instructors of Moldovan citizens to cause disorder in that country.

“The Service, in accordance with the legislation in force, imposed a deportation measure on the foreign national, banning him from entering and staying on the territory of BiH, after which he was transferred and is under surveillance in the Immigration Centre in Orientale. Sarajevo is in the process of further activities with the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the Office reported.

The service confirmed to RFE/RL that the validity of the documents carried by the Russian citizen was being established.

“On 22 February this year, a person with this name and surname legally entered BiH with Russian Federation documents. Now he does not have these documents, but he has a Spanish document. It is being established whether they are forged or not,” was told to RFE/RL by the Service for Affairs with Foreigners of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The service adds that he arrived at Sarajevo airport from Turkey.

If someone is illegally present on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they are placed under surveillance and deportation measures are imposed according to the legal procedure.

Adnan Habibija, Minister of the Interior of the Unski-Sanski Canton (USK), told RFE/RL earlier that the person was linked to the camps around Banja Luka and that the police of the Unski-Sanski Ministry of the Interior The canton and the BiH Intelligence and Security Agency participated in the arrest operation.

On the day of the arrest, it was stated that the Russian had been arrested for the crime of falsifying documents.

The first reports of the existence of camps where individuals were training young people to cause disturbances in Moldova were published by the Moldovan police and intelligence agency on 17 October.

At the same time, details were also published of the existence of sites in BiH and Serbia where young people were being trained in camps by persons linked to the Russian private military groups Ferma and Wagner.

The information was subsequently confirmed by the BiH OSA and by members of the Parliamentary Commission to monitor the work of the OSA.

Earlier, a member of the commission, Šemsudin Mehmedović, told Radio Free Europe that according to information received by the OSA BiH from Moldovan colleagues, Russian and Moldovan nationals were present at the site near Banja Luka.

“According to the information gathered, the Agency (OSA) has confirmed that certain BiH citizens were providing services to them. The Agency is continuing its work to establish the possible criminal responsibility of BiH citizens,” Mehmedovic said.

On 24 October, BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic said that people were coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina “to train members of Moldovan teams on behalf of and at the expense of the Russian Federation”.

The United States Embassy in BiH found deeply worrying reports of “Russians associated with Russian private military groups operating a camp in the Republika Srpska entity” and training individuals to disrupt democratic processes in Moldova./RSE/