When the leader of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, gave a 300-year-old, gilded Ukrainian Orthodox icon to Russia’s foreign minister earlier this month, it sparked an international scandal.
How did he get the icon? Journalists in both Ukraine and Bosnia struggled to find out. The icon was reportedly from Luhansk, a Ukrainian city currently occupied by Russia, leading many in Ukraine to believe it was stolen.
Now, a new interview published by a Bosnian Serb lawmaker suggests that the icon was indeed taken from the occupied Donbas and transported through Russia and Serbia before it reached the Bosnian Serb city of Banja Luka.
The interview provides further evidence that the icon, which the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture claims is state property, was illegally removed from Ukrainian territory.
The video interview was published on the blog of Nebojsa Vukanovic, an opposition lawmaker with the Serb Democratic Party in the parliament of Republika Srpska, a majority Serb region of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the 16-minute video, Vukanovic speaks at length with Dragan Savic, the former head of the Veterans of Republika Srpska association.
Savic claims that Dusko Vukotic, the current leader of the association, brought the icon from the Donbas through Russia and Belgrade, Serbia before taking it to Banja Luka. Then, on May 29, 2018, he presented the icon as a gift to Dodik, who was the president of Republika Srpska at the time.
The story could have ended there had Dodik, who is now the chairman of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s rotating tripartite presidency, not attempted to give the icon as a gift to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Dec.14 during the latter’s visit to Sarajevo.
After local media reported on the gift, a diplomatic scandal erupted and the Ukrainian embassy demanded an explanation from Bosnia-Herzegovina’s foreign ministry.
Soon, Russia said that it would return the icon to Sarajevo to clarify its origins through international police cooperation agency Interpol.
Read more: Ukrainian embassy demands Bosnia return Orthodox icon gifted to Russian minister
According to Balkan Observer, a Ukrainian Facebook page that publishes news and analysis from the Balkan region, Vukotic traveled to the occupied Donbas in 2018 to represent the veterans association during a meeting of “Heirs to Victory,” a World War II organization that is active in the occupied Donbas and Russia-annexed Crimea.
Representatives of the Russian-backed militants who de facto control the occupied Donbas allegedly gave the icon, which depicts St. Nicholas, to Vukotic, Balkan Observer wrote, citing regional media.
In the interview, Savic said he did not know whether Vukotic had any accompanying documents, which are usually required to transport such a valuable item across state lines.
In a comment to Bosnia’s Dnevni avaz news site, Vukotic declined to confirm or deny giving the icon to Dodik.
“I have no intention of defending myself and thus feeding various insane people!” he said. “What everyone knows, including me, is that Interpol is working on this case.”
Vukotic said he is available to Interpol or other agencies working investigating the matter.
According to Balkan Observer, an advisor to Dodik’s office claimed in a Bosnian TV interview that the icon had belonged to a family from Banja Luka for over 15 years, and they had wanted it to be given as a gift to Lavrov. The advisor also said that the icon had “sentimental value,” but little monetary value.
Savic disagreed with that claim.
“What family icon? This is just lies and fraud,” he said.
