The Montenegrin police broke up the network of mercenaries who fought on the side of Russia on the Ukrainian battlefield, and Danko Savić, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina permanently residing in Montenegro, was arrested, according to the media in Podgorica, who had one and a half million euros in his account, which, as the Montenegrin police believe, he acquired during his stay in the Russian formations.
As it was announced, Savić was arrested in the continuation of the coordinated operation codenamed “Lugansk”, and during the search of residential and other premises used by the police, they seized 12.2 kilograms of explosives, dozens of pieces of ammunition of different calibers, night vision optics, equipment for cleaning weapons, radio stations, a signal pistol, as well as parts of firearms.
According to reports, this police operation has so far involved 12 people, and the police searched 13 locations in Danilovgrad, Nikšić and Podgorica.
“The following were found and confiscated: 24 firearms, more than 1,000 ammunition, several frames, nine knives, sabers and bayonets, as well as uniforms, flags and other insignia of formation organizations and groups, and other items that can be confiscated in accordance with the law, in connection with this and related crimes,” the Montenegrin police said.
Numerous military uniforms, bulletproof vests, helmets, SIM cards, communication devices, as well as identification cards of the Montenegrin Cossack Brotherhood, often with different names, were found among the confiscated items.
The police also seized a gas mask, emblems with coats of arms and inscriptions, a metal boxer, and documentation indicating possession of valuable property.
Material evidence, according to the police, indicates that Savić participated in foreign military structures of the Russian Federation in Lugansk, in the period from the beginning of 2023 to the beginning of 2025. It is suspected that his engagement was motivated by financial gain and that it was during that period that he acquired the disputed sum of 1.5 million euros.
This is not the first time that Savić has been targeted by the police. He was also arrested in June 2025, when 12 kilograms of explosives packed in the form of a belt were found in his house. Then a criminal complaint was filed against him for illegal possession of weapons and explosive substances, Hina recalls.
The media previously announced that Savić is a former member of the Yugoslav Army. He previously declared himself in public as an ataman, or Cossack commander, associating himself with the Balkan Cossack Army, an organization allegedly linked to the Central Cossack Army of Russia, close to President Vladimir Putin.
Montenegrin TV E states that the operation “Lugansk” was coordinated with the intelligence services of two NATO member states and that, based on information from Western services, the police searched the facilities of persons who are members of the “Balkan Cossack Army”, “Montenegrin-Cossack Brotherhood”, as well as the “Night Wolves” organization.
The media reminds that these organizations are close to the Serbian Orthodox Church and that this connection was exposed during the enthronement of the Metropolitan of the SPC in Montenegro, Joanikij Mićović, on September 5, 2021, when members of those organizations participated in securing the monastery in Cetinje where the enthronement took place.
They also remind that the arrested Danko Savić is the ataman of the Balkan Cossack Army, which was founded in 2016 in Kotor. That media, referring to the data of the Digital Forensic Center, reminds that the “Balkan Cossack Army” is behind the association “Union of Donbas Volunteers”.
(TYPE/Source: Fena/Photo: Montenegrin Police)
