Belgrade Russians have become accustomed to meeting in one of these new restaurants serving their national cuisine which have multiplied in the Serbian capital since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. This Balkan country is become one of the main places of exile for tens of thousands of Russians who fled repression and mobilization orders in their country. With its strong pro-Russian feeling and its refusal to align itself with European sanctions, Serbia is paradoxically one of the last states in Europe to remain open to them, without a visa and by direct flight from Moscow.
But this Serbian exile with such a strange scent for many opponents of Vladimir Putin now seems to be reaching its limits. Monday, September 4, around a dish of pelmeni, these traditional Russian ravioli, Vladimir Volokhonsky and Peter Nikitin do not hide their fear that Serbia will turn into a trap. Arrived in May 2022, Mr. Volokhonsky, still officially an opposition district councilor in Saint Petersburg even though he left Russia for more than a year, is the first to have felt the wind of change. “I wanted to renew my residence permit in May, but after several months of waiting without an answer, I was finally told at the end of July that I represented a risk for national security”says this 44-year-old data analyst, who landed in Serbia somewhat by chance after having first fled his native country for Uzbekistan.
At his side, Peter Nikitin, glasses and a serious air, assures him that he was detained by the Serbian police at Belgrade airport on his return from a trip to Portugal in July. After waiting for hours in the waiting area, the police ended up explaining to this legal interpreter, who had all his studies in Europe, “that the BIA [Bezbednosno Informativna Agencija, les services de renseignement serbes] had issued an entry ban. in this country where he has however resided with his family since 2020. He had to alert the local media and the embassy of the Netherlands, of which he is also a national, to be able to return to his home.
Hostility of passers-by
“I have no doubt that this is due to my activities”, assures Mr. Nikitin. The two men are indeed known in Serbia for having founded together, in the fall of 2022, the Russian Democratic Society, a small association which tries to mobilize the local Russian community. At the head of a Facebook page and a telegram feed followed by several thousand people, they manage to bring their fellow citizens together regularly to denounce the war in the streets of Belgrade. A challenge in a Serbia that cultivates strong historical and cultural ties with Moscow, due to its unconditional support during the Balkan wars.
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