The involvement of Russian citizens in the ranks of the VRS during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina has been mostly researched, documented and known, but every April 12 opens a new debate about a special day in their honor. By the decision of the Government of the RS, the date when Konstantin Bogoslovski, Vladimir Safonov and Dmitrij Popov were killed in the battles with the RBiH Army at Zaglavak near Visegrad was included in the calendar of significant events, so the Day of Russian Volunteers is still celebrated today at the Megdan cemetery in Visegrad.
Battle for Zaglavak
- On April 12, 1993, members of the Second United Russian Volunteer Detachment, under the command of Trofimov Mihailo Viktorović, launched an attack on the defenders' positions at the Zaglavak and Stolac elevations, where Vladimir Safonov and Dimitrij Popov were killed. Konstantin the Theological was also killed in the attack on the Zaglavak hill. Aleksandar Kravchenko, one of the most famous Russian mercenaries on the battlefields around Višegrad, was seriously wounded in the head by shrapnel on the Zaglavak hill, as well as Vladimir Jeger - said for "Avaz" Assoc. Ph.D. Ermin Kuka, senior research associate at the UNSA Institute for Research on Crimes against Humanity and International Law.
Kuka recalls that Russian volunteers and mercenaries started coming to Visegrad in an organized manner in late October and early November 1992.
- The bearer of the activities of their arrival was the Cossack captain Aleksandar Kravchenko. With their arrival in the Visegrad area on November 1, 1992, the Second Russian Volunteer Detachment was formed. This detachment was part of the Višegrad Brigade of the VRS, and acted as a special sabotage unit. The Russians also called them "Imperial Wolves". The headquarters of the detachment was in Okolište, a Visegrad settlement on the left bank of the Drina river. Due to the failure on the battlefield, a group of about 50 Cossacks came to Višegrad on January 2, 1993, with the aim of helping the VRS in their offensives towards Goražde and Srebrenica. The base of the First Cossack Half Squadron was in the former Institute for Mentally Retarded Female Children and Youth in Višegrad - says Kuka.
The village was completely burned and looted
He adds that the first commander of the First Cossack half-squadron in Višegrad was Ataman Aleksandar Zagrebov.
- Immediately after the arrival of the Cossacks in Višegrad, on January 12, 1993, an attack was made on the village of Tvrtkovići. The attack was commanded by Zagrebov. The operation on the village of Tvrtkovići was called "scorched earth". The village was completely looted and burned. The Cossack Vasiliy Viktorovich Ganijevski was killed in the attack. It is indicative that, according to the recent statement of one of the commanders of the Ukrainian army, the Russian army in the invasion of Ukraine began to apply precisely the "scorched earth" tactic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Bakhmut is at the center of the biggest battle since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, they applied that tactic in early 1993 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, using the example of a much smaller populated place - points out Kuka.
More than 700 Russians in the war in BiH
More than 700 Russians participated in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in honor of 37 who died on the battlefields in 2011, a monument with their names was unveiled at the Megdan military cemetery in Visegrad. One of the streets in Višegrad is called Kozačka, and six years ago a Russian cross 5.5 meters high was erected on the Grad hill above Višegrad. It was donated by the Association "April 12" from Kosovska Mitrovica, whose representatives also attended today's commemoration at Megdan.
However, unlike in previous years, when numerous Russian mercenaries and their commanders came to Višegrad on the Day of Russian Volunteers, the commemoration was attended today by only a few dozen representatives of authorities and associations from RS, Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as family members of one Russian volunteer. The reason is the new aggression, this time against Ukraine, and sanctions against Russia by the democratic world.
Written by: Alen Bajramović
Source: Avaz.ba