A building hit by a Russian strike in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, September 2026. Photo: EPA/MARIA SENOVILLA.
Montenegrin authorities said on Monday that 14 Montenegrin citizens have travelled to foreign conflict zones since 2022, adding that their recruitment took place mainly through the internet and digital communication platforms.
Montenegro’s National Operational Team for Combating Violent Extremism, Terrorism, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, NOT, said the country’s security agencies are monitoring citizens heading to foreign battlefields and their potential return, while exchanging information with international partners.
“According to the available data, 14 Montenegrin citizens have been recorded as travelling to foreign conflict zones since 2022. Current findings indicate that recruitment takes place predominantly through the internet and digital communication platforms, involving cross-border contacts and transit through third countries,” NOT said.
Under Montenegrin law, participation in foreign armed formations is a crime punishable by six months to five years in prison. Organising trips to war zones and recruiting fighters carry prison sentences ranging from two to ten years.
Montenegro has issued two final convictions for participation in foreign armed formations. In 2017, Marko Banovic was sentenced to six months in prison for fighting alongside pro-Russian forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. In 2018, Hamid Beharovic received the same sentence for joining Islamic State, IS, in Syria. Both received the minimum prison sentence prescribed by law.
In February 2025, Montenegro’s Higher Prosecution accused Danko Savic from Danilovgrad of fighting in Ukraine’s Luhansk region and of acquiring substantial financial assets as a result, including 1.5 million euros held in a bank account.
Savic was arrested last November, and police also searched 11 other people’s residences, seizing 24 firearms, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, bladed weapons, insignia of foreign armed formations and foreign documents.
A BIRN investigation found that Savic had been linked to pro-Russian Cossack organisations. Analysis of publicly available sources showed that he had attended numerous public events in Montenegro, the region and Russia wearing a Cossack uniform.
During his trial at Podgorica Higher Court, Savic claimed he has been a Russian citizen since 2023.