The Prosecutor’s Office and Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo: BIRN.
The state prosecution told BIRN that its investigators are continuing to probe the training camps in Bosnia’s Serb-led Republika Srpska, where Russian instructors were training Moldovan citizens to destabilise the ex-Soviet country, and have called on Chisinau to provide more information.
Several individuals are already on trial in the Moldovan capital over the alleged Russian-backed destabilisation campaign aimed at subverting the country’s pro-EU course.
“A few months ago the Bosnian prosecution contacted Moldovan partner institutions, through the International Legal Assistance Institute, regarding allegations about the activities of Moldovan citizens in Bosnian territory and alleged criminal acts,” the prosecution said in a written response.
The prosecution added that it has not yet received any response from the Moldovan authorities to the request.
Moldova’s Justice Ministry of Foreign Ministry did not respond to BIRN’s inquiries about the prosecution’s request by the time of publication.
An investigation by BIRN and Moldovan media outlet CU SENS recently revealed how, at the camps near Banja Luka in Republika Srpska, participants were trained in how to organise protests and provoke the police.
Some of the instructors at the camp were linked to the Russian paramilitary unit Wagner, which has been accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine, Syria and Mali.
Officials in Republika Srpska and the Russian embassy in Sarajevo have denied the training camps were held.
Moldova, a former Soviet republic, is now led by a pro-Western government and has become an EU membership candidate. Russia backs anti-Western forces within the country in the hope of turning it back into Moscow’s orbit.
Trials are ongoing in Chisinau in connection with the subversion attempts.
At a recent hearing, defendant Vladimir Harcevnicov, revealed how he travelled from Moldova, via Serbia, to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he participated in the assembly, programming and calibration of drones at a training camp.
He added that he took part in various training sessions on topics ranging from drone operations to making Molotov cocktails.
At the hearings in Moldova, the probable location for the training sessions has been named as Glamocani, a village north of Banja Luka, close to the former Zaluzani military airport.
Police in Moldova in September arrested another 74 people allegedly connected to the campaign to destabilise Moldova around the country’s recent elections, which were eventually won by the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity.
It is alleged that as well as the camps in Bosnia, Russian instructors trained Moldovans in Serbia from July to September 2025.
Serbian police have also arrested two Serbian citizens on suspicion of participating in the organisation and financing of a training camp for Moldovans.