Serbian Military Intelligence chief calls claims of Ukrainian link to found explosives disinformation

Serbian Military Security Agency (VBA) head Đuro Jovanić addressed the public about the investigation launched after explosives were found in the municipality of Kanjiža, several hundred meters from the TurkStream pipeline, and dismissed claims that they could be linked to Ukraine, Serbian outlet Kurir reports.

"Disinformation says that the Serbian army and its servicemen are working for some other or third party to find a Ukrainian explosive device and blame Ukraine for it. That is not true," Jovanić said.

He described the incident as an "extremely successful operation" and said it had been anticipated. "For months we indicated that something like this could happen. Today’s operational action was preceded by good fieldwork, good information sharing with relevant services, and in this case we had information that a person belonging to a group of migrants who had received military training would carry out a sabotage on gas infrastructure. We faced a large amount of disinformation regarding the timing, method, etc.," the VBA chief said, adding that "this person will definitely be detained — it is only a question of whether the investigation will take days or months, but we will complete the task."

Jovanić noted that the manufacturer of the explosive device is not necessarily the perpetrator or the organizer, and said markings on the explosives indicate they were made in the United States. "Someone will now say that perhaps the United States of America is currently behind something like this. The Serbian army is a serious institution, and the Serbian army will carry out every task. The Serbian army does not interfere in political processes in the Republic of Serbia, let alone in political processes in any other country. We are continuing our work — teams are already preparing all evidence found today for forensic examination, and we will release new information very soon," he said.

The Higher Prosecutor’s Office in Subotica is conducting the investigation in cooperation with military police, chief prosecutor Mladenka Manojlović said. "The Subotica prosecutor’s office, in cooperation with military police, conducted a search in the area between the settlements of Gornji Breg and Vojvode Zimonić, where two black backpacks were found by the road containing approximately 4 kg of a substance we suspect is plastic explosive, as well as materials indicating that an explosive device could have been assembled from them," she said.

According to the outlet, the site was under heightened security on Monday, with around 150 officers from the Interior Ministry, military police, and other services deployed. Searches were conducted by air and on the ground, and some roads were closed.

As previously reported, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that explosives were found during an investigation linked to a threat to gas infrastructure connecting Serbia and Hungary. "We believe we know which group the individuals who were supposed to take the final step of activating the explosives belong to. The goal was to send a political message. We will severely punish everyone we catch," he said.

Vučić said that near the village of Velebit in the Vojvodina region, several hundred meters from the Balkan Stream pipeline, two large packages of explosives with detonators were found in two backpacks, which "could have endangered a large number of people and caused significant damage to gas supplies to Serbia and Hungary."

Following this, the Serbian president held a conversation with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who said he had convened an extraordinary session of the Defense Council.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhy stated that Ukraine had no involvement in the incident involving explosives found near the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia leading to Hungary, and suggested it could be a Russian special operation.

"We categorically condemn attempts to groundlessly link Ukraine to the incident involving the discovery of explosives near the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia. Ukraine has no relation to this. Most likely, this is a Russian false flag operation as part of Moscow’s active interference in the Hungarian elections," Tykhy said on X on Sunday.