Speaking on condition of anonymity, intelligence sources in Bosnia said Bezrukavyi first arrived in Bosnia by plane, landing at Sarajevo airport in February last year and entering the country legally.
Besic Lips said he booked the apartment in Bosanska Krupa via Booking.com. He arrived on foot, which Besic Lips’s parents found “strange”, she said, “but they thought maybe he was a foreigner who knew some of the locals, who maybe dropped him there to stay the night”.
He stayed two days. “He spent the entire time in the apartment,” Besic Lips said. “I don’t think he even went out anywhere.”
On the second day, Bezrukavyi asked for a lift to a forest in Ivanjska, right on the border with Croatia and a well-trodden route for migrants and refugees trying to enter the EU. Happy for the extra cash, Besic Lips’s brother obliged, and her father went along too.
According to sources within European security circles, Bezrukavyi crossed the border illegally and proceeded to the Croatian capital, Zagreb, where he spent a night in a private apartment with a Ukrainian friend. From Croatia, he went to Spain, where, according to media reports, he married, secured an EU residency permit, and went to Poland.
Bezrukavyi also spent time in Serbia, before in mid-November 2024, according to security and intelligence sources, he returned to Bosnia, crossing illegally from Croatia. This time he contacted Besic Lips via WhatsApp to book the same apartment in Bosanska Krupa.
According to extradition papers, when he was arrested Bezrukavyi was found in possession of a Spanish residence permit, two iPhones, four chargers, 1,300 euros in 100-euro banknotes, and an unwrapped Vodafone SIM card.
The phone number he used to book the apartment, as well as to make reservations in Zagreb, was Ukrainian and remains active.
When BIRN messaged the number via Telegram, the user denied knowing Bezrukavyi; BIRN called the number and a male voice answered but hung up as soon as he heard that it was a journalist calling.
The number was previously registered on Telegram as ‘FromSibirwithlove’ until March 2022, when the username changed to ‘Alexey_exchange’. The number is a member of several Telegram groups, including one gathering Ukrainian fans of Nissan cars and another concerning cryptocurrencies.
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