In the annual report of the Estonian intelligence service, it is discussed in what way Rusija spreads its influence and conducts secret activities in Europe, and one part is dedicated to how the Russian services and their collaborators in Serbia trained people for direct attacks, writes Geopost.
According to this media, the training was allegedly held in a tourist complex near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, in an isolated location that allowed the activities to take place out of the public eye.
It is believed that the participants were being prepared for coordinated operations, and the Serbian and Russian authorities have not officially commented on these allegations.
The document states that the Kremlin has no real intention of ending the conflict, despite significant military losses, economic pressures and growing internal repression.
According to the report, Moscow continues to use the peace dialogue as a strategic instrument to buy time, test the unity of Western countries and try to formalize the defeat of Ukraine.
History with Moldova
Last September, the Kremlin heavily intervened in Moldova's parliamentary elections with the aim of toppling the country's pro-Western government. Information from open sources indicates that Moscow spent about 150 million dollars on this massive influence campaign.
The campaign relied on a wide range of means - from familiar, "soft" tactics to measures with a pronounced military character.
Russian security services recruited about 150 men who underwent specialized training in Serbia, in a rented tourist complex near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Moldova's chief prosecutor from the Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases, Victor Furtuna, said in September that 111 people linked to the plan had been identified. Among them, 74 were detained for 72 hours, because it is suspected that they underwent training in Serbia, which was organized by citizens of the Russian Federation.
Lazar Popović from Belgrade and Savo Stevanović from Loznica were arrested in September and taken to the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Šabac on suspicion of participating in the organization and financing of an improvised tactical training camp for citizens of Moldova and Romania, BIRN wrote.
The training was held by instructors who are citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus in the Sunčana reka complex, which is located on the stretch between Loznica and Banja Koviljača.
How were they discovered?
Russian citizen Sergei Andreenkov, suspected of participating in the combat-tactical training of citizens of Moldova and Romania, was probably in Serbia in September.
There is no official information in Serbia about Andreekov's movements, but digital traces analyzed by RSE indicate that he was in the west of the country, which is "Time" has already written.
Namely, on an open account registered to Sergej Andreenkov, on the "Strava" application, which is used for networking of people engaged in fitness training, and according to RSE research, data about the morning training in September, next to the Drina river near Loznica, was recorded.
As the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of Serbia announced on September 26, "combat-tactical training for citizens of Moldova and Romania" was organized near Loznica.
RFE/RL obtained data on Andreekov's movements by cross-checking the email address he registered with, with the applications he installed on his phone using that address.
Information about his email address can be found in the Russian business register, where Andreenkov left this contact when registering a now inactive company in Russia.
