Russia as Vucic's shield: How the FSB report was used to deny the use of the "sonic cannon" in the protest

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has brought the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) report back to the center of the debate, using it as the main argument to deny claims that Serbian security forces used an acoustic weapon, known as a "sonic cannon", during the massive anti-government protest of March 15, 2025 in Belgrade.

During a statement on June 21, Vucic publicly thanked the Russian FSB for its investigation and questioned the credibility of the report's critics.

"Do you think Aleksandar Bortnikov will sign something that is a lie?" Vucic said, referring to the FSB director.

The statement comes at a time when the High Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade has launched an investigation into allegations that the March 15 incident may have been the result of a simulation organized in advance by protest participants.

This approach has been strongly opposed by the student movement, which has characterized the investigation as an attempt to avoid responsibility and divert attention from the main question: what really happened during the protest.

Since the day of the incident, Serbian authorities have categorically denied the use of acoustic weapons.

To support this position, Belgrade invited the Russian FSB to conduct a technical investigation. The report, subsequently published on the website of the Serbian Intelligence and Security Agency (BIA), concluded that there was no evidence of the use of a “sonic cannon.”

However, the Russian report caused much controversy. The document was published without a signature, while the investigation included experiments with Serbian police acoustic equipment and tests on animals, including dogs, a methodology that was criticized by domestic and international human rights organizations.

Despite Moscow's support for Belgrade's official version, doubts have not been dispelled.

The European Commission, the United Nations, and the European Court of Human Rights have repeatedly called for an independent and transparent investigation into the events of March 15.

On the other hand, civil society organizations in Serbia have collected more than 3,000 testimonies from citizens who were present at the protest. Many of them reported hearing an unusual noise and feeling a wave of force that caused mass panic, forcing thousands of protesters to rush off the streets of the capital.

Footage posted on social media and filmed by media outlets showed the moment the crowd suddenly dispersed during tributes to the victims of the Novi Sad tragedy, fueling further suspicions about the use of acoustic technologies against protesters.

Vučić's insistence on the FSB report represents another example of the political and institutional support that Moscow offers to Serbian authorities on sensitive domestic issues.

For them, Russia did not present itself as an independent investigator, but as a strategic ally that helped defend Belgrade's official narrative about one of the most controversial events of 2025.

The GeoPost