Dodik paid for buses to transport citizens of RS to welcome Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives today on an official visit to Serbia, and will stay in Belgrade for only six hours, where he will attend a military parade and lay wreaths at the Cemetery of the Liberators of Belgrade, reports the Patria News Agency.

Putin will hold separate meetings with the President and Prime Minister of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić, and the new-old President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has also travelled to Belgrade.

As Patria has learned, Dodik paid for the trip to Belgrade for interested citizens of the smaller BiH entity, so they could welcome Putin. Several buses have departed from Banja Luka, carrying those who wish to travel to Belgrade.

Incidentally, this is Putin's third visit to Serbia, and security measures in the Serbian capital will be unprecedented. The first members of Putin's security detail, around 150 KGB special forces, arrived in Serbia from Russia yesterday to ensure the Russian president's safety.

However, that is not all. The delegation arriving in Belgrade with Putin will have an equal number of members.

Twenty members of his security detail will also travel to Belgrade with the head of the Kremlin, and it is rumoured that over 80 of the best Serbian snipers will guard him.