Archpriest Cvjetković reveals how Russian volunteers fought on the side of the Serbian army in Višegrad

Archpriest of the Orthodox Church Rajko Cvjetković from Višegrad has revealed to local media that during the last bloody conflicts in BiH, Russian volunteers fought on the side of the Serbian army, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP).

While domestic and foreign analysts have for years criticised the arrival of fighters from the Islamic world who fought on the side of the Army of the Republic of BiH, one of the highest heads of the Orthodox Church in BiH, Cvjetković, revealed that Russian volunteers fought on the side of the Serbian army, and that their fight was magnificent.

- They, said Cvjetković, lied to their parents that they were leaving the country to work, but in fact they came to BiH to fight on the side of the Serbian army, which would, in just the first year of the conflict, commit some of the most horrific crimes against the Bosniak population. The most notorious killing site is the house of Sumbula Zeba in Pioneerska Street, known as the "living pyre", where more than 70 Bosniaks were locked in and burned alive.

- That year, when the war was at its fiercest, when we were struggling, when there were many people fleeing, when the Serbian people were preparing to flee from Višegrad, when the soldiers had lost all will and belief that they could defend the city, then the Russians came. There weren't many of them, maybe about 20, but it was terrible for our enemy – revealed Cvjetković.

- When the Russians came, all young, handsome, children, I thought they didn't know where they had come. But they truly came to fight for the Orthodox faith.

Cvjetković also described the funeral of one of the Russians, named Andrei. It was, he said, magnificent. Whoever was in Višegrad and had the opportunity to come to the funeral, came.

- He was buried according to Russian customs. He was laid out, holding a candle in his hand, a cross and an icon on his chest. We all cried, but we felt faith awakening within us.

In the interview, Cvjetković also announced a third world war, in which the Russians would come again and unite the Serbian people and Orthodox countries. He quoted the words of the criminal Radovan Karadžić, who said that the Russian bell is large and difficult to strike, but once it starts ringing, it rings for a long time.

- Well, we are waiting for that bell. We are waiting to show our chivalry – said Cvjetković.

During the Serbian aggression against BiH from 1992 to 1995, some of the greatest crimes against Bosniaks in the Podrinje region were committed in Višegrad, for which trials against several former members of the Army of Republika Srpska are currently ongoing before domestic and international courts. However, in the interview, Cvjetković deliberately and intentionally swapped the victims with the perpetrators. He recounted how local Serbs in Višegrad prayed for peace and tried to prevent the war, but the Bosniaks, or as Cvjetković says, Muslims, did not want that, reports NAP.