From Wagner and espionage to business in BiH: About the Russians involved in training for the destabilization of Moldova

There would be no dispute about this fact if the owner of this company was not the Russian Andrei Beker, who is linked to the training of Moldovans to cause riots in that country.

He is one of two Russian nationals who have been confirmed to have been in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the previous months and held some form of training and seminars for Moldovans to cause disorder. Beker left Bosnia and Herzegovina, and another Russian, Aleksandar Bezrukavji, is in custody and awaiting extradition to Poland.

That training, according to BH. according to intelligence data, Beker spent precisely in Banja Luka with other persons identified by the Moldovan police in October 2024.

Earlier, the Ukrainian site Mirotvorec, which publishes databases of "pro-Russian terrorists, separatists, mercenaries, war criminals and murderers", labeled Beker as a member of the Russian paramilitary Wagner group, that is, as a Russian mercenary.

 

How did Beker open a company in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

In the register of companies, in addition to Beker's company for, as it is stated, computer programming, there is also a contact phone number on which Radio Free Europe (RSE) was answered by a woman who did not want to identify herself and who said she had nothing to do with the company.

- Where did your number come from in the register?

- Well, you know how, we are an accounting bureau, probably the number was withdrawn in APIF (Agency for Intermediary, IT and Financial Services), in APIF they withdraw numbers.

- So you are Mr. Beker's accountant?

- I'm a bookkeeper, but they don't keep the books at my place, do you understand me? They don't do business through me, don't you understand?

- I don't understand where the number comes from if you are not connected at all? Did you have any contact with Mr. Beker?

- I had it related to his work permit, that's all.

This is how the conversation sounded with the woman whose number is highlighted on Beker's registration, who finally explains that in September she helped a group of Russian citizens to get a work permit.

 

"I haven't had any contact with them since," she said.

She explained that the permits were issued by the Employment Agency of the Republika Srpska entity. When asked if he can explain on what basis they got the permits, he says:

"First of all, I'm not allowed to give you any information, and I don't know. They are people, you understand me, they worked on their own, I just filled in their requests. The people didn't know our language, they hired us to fill in the forms, requests, we did it, we never saw the people again."

She also says that she is not sure how many people received work permits in total.

RSE has established that the company that provided assistance to Russians in obtaining work permits is the BS center from Banja Luka. It is a company that provides "combined office administrative service activities".

"They didn't have their phone numbers here, theirs registered, and then we had to find a phone number to call when it's ready, the institutions will call when it's finished," said a woman from the company BS centar.

 

What is known about Beker?

Andrei Beker, according to information from the Service for Foreigners, had a residence permit in the Banja Luka area, in a legal entity that provides accommodation services.

According to information from the Service, Beker left Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 7.

He entered Bosnia and Herzegovina using a passport with the name Beker Andrej Genadijevič and date of birth from 1981.

However, the photo on this passport shows that it is the same person whose patronymic Olegovich is stated by the Ukrainian site Mirotvorec. The date of birth on this list is from 1971.

Beker, however, is also mentioned on Mirotvorec with the patronymic Gennadievich, and it is stated that he is an agent or freelancer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation (GRU).

Similar or almost the same is stated in the place where Beker has another patronymic and date of birth. According to RSE research, Beker also used the alter-ego Roman Chernov.

Mirotvorec states that Beker previously had a problem with a bank, due to actions that the bank characterized as fraud.

According to information obtained by RSE, Beker is originally from Novorossiysk, Russia's largest port on the Black Sea, and was registered at various addresses in this city for the past 20 years.

Publicly available data show that Beker had a car mechanic shop in Novorossiysk from 2006 to 2020, and that he founded three different construction companies, founded a little less than 20 years ago.

 

None of them exist today.

Beker has been described by the Moldovan police and intelligence agency as a person who was part of a group they say trained young men in training camps in BiH and Serbia to learn how to make explosives and use drones, as well as to "cause riots" before the elections in Moldova.

Another Russian in custody, waiting for a decision on extradition?

When Beker was, Aleksandar Bezrukavji also stayed in BiH.

A Russian arrested in Bosnia and Herzegovina with forged Spanish documents, who is suspected of being part of a group that trained Moldovans to cause riots in that country, and who is wanted by Poland - claims that it is a matter of political persecution.

Aleksandar Bezrukavji asserted this before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina at a hearing on December 5, when he was ordered to extradition custody in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Poland's extradition request, which accuses him of terrorism and participation in foreign intelligence activities against the state, was also discussed.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina told RSE that, when it is passed, the decision on the fulfillment of the legal prerequisites for the extradition of the claimant will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina for a final decision, which is the usual procedure in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Until then, Bezrukavji remains in custody in the state prison in East Sarajevo.

He was arrested in Bosanska Krupa, in the extreme northwest of BiH, on November 16. At the time, it was said that he was detained for falsified documents.

Information was then confirmed that he was suspected of being part of a group of Russian nationals who were training Moldovans to cause riots.

Bezrukavji came to BiH from Turkey in February 2024.

Before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is no discussion about his stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor about the allegations that he trained Moldovans near Banja Luka.  

Bezkavji sent a suspicious package?

The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that it received original material documentation from Poland, from which it is evident that Poland is looking for Bezrukavj, as well as accompanying documentation, which also contains the decision of the Court of Poland on establishing the well-founded suspicion that the requested person committed the criminal offense of espionage in accordance with the law of the Republic of Poland.

Bezrukavji is wanted on suspicion of having committed criminal acts punishable by up to 12 years in prison under Polish law.

During the hearing before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he claimed that none of what the Polish authorities claim is true. He stated that he does not know the persons mentioned in the letter from Poland.

 

"If I had known that it was a criminal offense to send the shipment, I would never have sent it," he said, denying that it was intelligence work and that he was part of a group that acted organized.

The shipments in question were sent to Canada and the US and allegedly contained clothing and footwear. From Poland, they claim that these were test or preparatory activities with the aim of later having explosive devices in the shipments.

Due to the fact that this is information that Poland is investigating, neither the Court nor the BiH Prosecutor's Office could provide more details.

The District Court in Warsaw told RSE that the proceedings against Bezrukavje are ongoing and that a European arrest warrant was issued on September 10.

"He is suspected of having committed a crime - espionage for foreign intelligence services," the court said.

According to the Court, they cannot provide more details because the procedure is in the investigation phase and "is of a confidential nature".

As a Russian citizen, Bezrukavji entered Bosnia and Herzegovina with Russian documents, and during his arrest he had Spanish documents with him instead of Russian ones, it was previously confirmed for RSE by the Service for Affairs with Foreigners of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He was not on the list of 11 persons whom Moldova stated were instructors in training camps for Moldovans in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, but the information that he was linked to that group was confirmed by security agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Moldova has arrested several people for participating in the trainings, and about 100 other people have been "documented" and are being investigated, but are at large.

Moldova's police chief said the network was funded by Russia-friendly fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who is wanted in Moldova for his involvement in stealing about $1 billion from the former Soviet republic's banking system a decade ago.

They are said to be suspected of planning to "destabilize" the Republic of Moldova after the October 20 election and referendum.