Serbia allowed Putin's spies to test 'sonic cannons' on dogs

Serbian intelligence officers have been testing sonic cannons on dogs in collaboration with the notorious Russian security service, according to state documents obtained by POLITICO.

Documents from Serbia confirm that President Aleksandar Vučić's administration has conducted experiments with high-powered loudspeakers, colloquially known as sound cannons, two weeks after an anti-government protest in Belgrade, which was interrupted by what protesters described as a paralyzing sonic blast.

The joint testing of sonic weapons on animals highlights the depth of security cooperation between Russia – the European Union's most aggressive adversary – and Serbia, an EU candidate country with a stalled integration process whose government is facing serious challenges.

Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) are marketed as long-range communication devices, but when used up close they can cause hearing damage. They have also been reported to cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. The Serbian government has denied using sound cannons against demonstrators.

Serbia is in the midst of its biggest wave of protests in decades. For more than a year, tens of thousands of people – sometimes hundreds of thousands of citizens – have taken to the streets across the country, staging regular mass protests that reflect growing anger at the government.

On March 15, 2025, during one of the largest protests, a sudden and deafening noise echoed through Belgrade's main boulevard, forcing people to take shelter in panic.

Footage from multiple angles shows how the commotion spread through the dense crowd, before people scattered in panic. Demonstrators who showed up at Belgrade emergency rooms reported nausea, vomiting, headaches and dizziness. They said they heard a noise like “a group of motorcyclists” or “a locomotive” approaching them.

After initially rejecting accusations that the authorities had used sound cannons, Vučić declared that “within 48 hours a full investigation will be conducted and then all those responsible for these brutal fabrications and lies will be held accountable before the institutions.”

Interior Minister Ivica Dačić also denied any misuse, insisting that Serbia “has not used any illegal means, including the so-called sound cannon.”

A month after the protest, the Security and Information Agency (BIA) published a report commissioned by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), claiming that high-decibel devices "were not used during the protests" and that there was no massive "psychological, moral or physical" impact on people.

Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.

Animal testing

The animal tests were conducted as part of an investigation following the protests, according to documents seen by POLITICO, compiled by the BIA and a government ministry.

The goal was to assess whether the symptoms described by the protesters matched the effects of sound cannons, which Serbian officials had previously admitted that the police possess.

About two weeks after the protest, Serbian and Russian intelligence specialists gathered a group of dogs at a BIA testing range to assess “the effect of emitters on biological objects.” The dogs were chosen as test subjects because of their “high sensitivity to acoustic effects.”

The animals were exposed to two LRAD models – the LRAD 100X MAG-HS and the LRAD 450XL – manufactured by the American company Genasys based in California, at “distances of 200, 150, 100, 50 and 25 meters,” according to the documents.

The data sheets for these models indicate that they can emit sound up to 150 decibels, equivalent to the noise of a jet plane during takeoff.

The documents also suggest that the tests may have been conducted without the necessary approvals for animal experiments.

“The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management… has no information on whether tests of the effects of the LRAD 100H and LRAD 450XL, as well as other tests of the effects of other devices on dogs, have been conducted,” the documents state.

"This ministry has never received a request for approval of animal testing and, consequently, no decision has been issued to approve the testing in question, nor other similar tests," it further adds.

Danilo Ćurčić, a human rights lawyer in Serbia, said the dogs were “subjected to experiments or abuse,” as defined by the Law on Animal Welfare in Serbia.

He stressed that Serbian law requires that experiments on animals be registered in advance and approved by competent bodies – including an ethics commission – and that it expressly prohibits animal testing for “testing weapons and military equipment.”

Radomir Lazović, an opposition politician, described the tests as “part of a campaign by Aleksandar Vučić to cover up the use of sound cannons against his own people during the March protests.”

"Thousands of people last year felt the massive effects of this sonic weapon on their skin," he said.

In their report on the dog experiments, the FSB stated: “During the transmission of basic and test signals, biological objects (dogs) did not feel any discomfort (changes in behavior) at the tested distances. The dogs were checked three days after the tests and no changes in their condition were observed.” /Politico/