Weapons seizures by Kosovo police appear to point toward Russian involvement during the recent Bajnska raid, which saw a reported 30 well-armed ethnic Serbs ambush a Kosovo police patrol, resulting in the death of one Kosovo police officer and three Serbs, according to Kosovo Police Chief Gazmend Hoxha, as cited by Radio Free Europe.
During the n interview with RFE/RL Balkan Service correspondent Arton Konushevci, Hoxha noted that both the letter “Z” has appeared on scale in North Kosovo, but laso that “some of the weapons and equipment that have been confiscated are of Russian manufacture.”
The Kosovo police chief pointed to four-wheeled motorbikes and also other elements of the seized arsenal. He also noted both good cooperation with KFOR and a continued presence of Serb troops on the border.
Kosovo has already alleged Serbian government of the raid, pointing to the alleged leader of the raid, Milan R., a former Serb List politician who was briefly detained in Serbia for questioning. His release to effectively house arrest brought headlines that overshadowed the fact that his passport was seized by Serb authorities, and that he is barred from returning to Kosovo by Serbian authorities at this time.
Meanwhile, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has sent mixed signals with regard to his past relationship with Milan R., although press reports do not indicate that the two were particularly close. For his part, Vucic met at the end of last week with French President Emmanuel Macron and publicly thanked him for long and constructive talks.
Banskja Monastery pic by Vanjagenije, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
