A group from Serbia allegedly carried out disturbances in France and Germany under orders from Russian intelligence services, according to rulings by the Higher Court in Smederevo reviewed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Three Serbian citizens have been convicted of espionage and racial discrimination in connection with several incidents organized in Paris and Berlin during the spring and summer of 2025.
Along with eight other suspects from Serbia, they were arrested in late September 2025. Nearly four months later, the three men reached plea agreements, admitting guilt and receiving sentences ranging from six months to one and a half years of house arrest.
The rulings do not specify the exact size of the group, and the names of the other suspects have been redacted in the court documents.
According to the verdicts, the group was organized by a Serbian citizen whose name has also been withheld. Another organizer is mentioned as an unidentified individual known by the nickname “Hunter.”
No further details about “Hunter” are provided in the documents of the Higher Court in Smederevo.
The court rulings reviewed by RFE/RL state that the group’s actions targeted Jewish and Muslim religious communities, and that they received orders, instructions, and funding from “structures of the intelligence service of the Russian Federation.”
Among other acts, the group was responsible for pouring green paint on the Holocaust Museum and three synagogues in Paris, as well as leaving pig heads in front of nine mosques in the city.
In central Berlin, near the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, they placed plastic skeletons.
According to the verdicts, the objective was to “incite religious and national hostility,” particularly between Jewish and Muslim communities, and to “destabilize the situation” in Germany and France.
In addition to having their travel expenses covered, members of the group were promised payments for each completed “task,” ranging from €500 to €1,000 or €1,500.
