Episode 161: Dario’s Journey – From Sportsman in Modrica to Russian volunteer in Ukraine
This month, we bring you the story of how we discovered the identity of a man from the town of Modrica who, despite a legal ban, went to fight for the Russian army as it destroys Ukrainian towns one by one and kills civilians.
This post is also available in: Bosnian
More than two years since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the number and identities of volunteers from Bosnia and Herzegovina who’ve gone there to fight on the Russian side remain well hidden. In mid-February, one of rare videos depicting a volunteer holding a gun and sending a greeting “to Modrica from the Serb volunteers” appeared on Telegram communication application. But his identity was not revealed in posts that were followed by more than a thousand people. BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina journalists Nino Biljaca and Irvin Pekmez first followed his path from his training to departure to the frontline in Ukraine, and then traced his family in Modrica.
