The Supreme State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica has ordered the detention of 61-year-old Danko Savic from the southern Montenegrin town of Danilovgrad for up to 72 hours, suspected of participating in a foreign armed formation of the Russian Federation fighting in Ukraine, the Montenegrin edition of Radio Free Europe reported. Savic was arrested on November 27, and according to the police, he participated in military operations in the Lugansk region from the beginning of 2023 to the beginning of 2025, BTA reported.
Investigators reported that about 1.5 million euros were found in his bank account, which there are suspicions were acquired precisely as a result of his participation in combat operations. According to the police, the evidence indicates that Savic violated international law, joining a Russian armed formation on Ukrainian territory.
Savich's detention is part of the "Lugansk" operation, during which the police conducted searches of a total of 11 people, RFE/RL recalls. 24 firearms, over a thousand rounds of ammunition, cold weapons, insignia of foreign formations, communication equipment and various documents, including foreign passports, were seized. Some of the weapons and equipment found in premises used by Savich include military uniforms, body armor, helmets, items of the Cossack Brotherhood and a book of participation in the front.
Savich was also arrested in June this year for illegal possession of weapons, RFE/RL points out. According to Radio Free Europe, he is a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina living in Montenegro, a former member of the Yugoslav army and a self-proclaimed "Cossack military commander" in a structure linked to Russian Cossack formations close to the Kremlin.
During the operation, 74-year-old D.B. from Danilovgrad was also detained for illegal weapons, and various types of weapons, ammunition, uniforms and flags were found in the homes of the other individuals. A law firm was also searched, and one person is wanted.
The materials on the case will be handed over to the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica. According to the Montenegrin police, the operation is part of efforts to counter "significant contemporary security threats" and hybrid activities coming from both domestic and foreign sources.