What is known about the Bosnian citizen who was captured by Ukraine as a Russian mercenary?

The name of Selver Hrusti?, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was captured by the Ukrainian army as a Russian mercenary, is not known to the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Radio Free Europe has learned.

Hrusti? had been fighting on the side of Russia since September 2025, before being captured in Ukraine.

Now, this Bosnian citizen may find himself in a legal vacuum between the status of prisoner of war and that of foreign mercenary, which brings different consequences under international law and domestic laws.

He is likely to be prosecuted in Ukraine and is less likely to be exchanged and sent to Russia (because Moscow does not typically seek foreign fighters in prisoner of war exchanges) and he could also be returned to Bosnia, where joining a foreign army is a criminal offense.

In the video he says he was sent to kill people

The Ukrainian government's media project, United24 Media, on January 17 published a video on X, in which Hrustic talks about his participation in the Russian army.

"I signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense in Moscow in September 2025. They present it as if we are protecting someone in Ukraine. This is propaganda," Hrusti? says in the released video.

According to United24 Media, the person speaking in the video had been in trouble with the law in one of the European Union countries and said he was promised that, after a six-month contract with the Russian military, he would have a lawyer to help him with his legal problems.

Radio Free Europe has learned that Hrusti?, originally from Zenica, had studied history at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, and had then lived and worked for a time in Germany.

This 35-year-old man says in the video that people like him go and are sent to kill people in exchange for money.

"I advise everyone not to sign contracts with the Russian military, because they see such people differently. An officer told me that they don't call us soldiers. He said that we are mercenaries who kill other people for money."

He also says that he was promised that he would not be sent to attack Ukraine, but the exact opposite happened: he was ordered to try to break through the defenses through Ukrainian villages, occasionally hiding in basements.

He has a wife and daughter in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Hrusti? left behind his wife and daughter in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

His brother, whose name REL is not publishing, says he regrets not stopping him from going to Russia when he had talked about it in the summer of 2025.

"I'm sorry he didn't listen to me last year, because I convinced him not to go. I'm sorry the whole family is going through such a situation," he tells REL.

Hrustiç kishte qëndruar edhe më herët në Rusi, në ditët para nisjes së pushtimit në shkallë të plotë të Ukrainës në fillimin e vitit 2022.

Një kushëri i tij nga Zenica thotë për REL-in se nuk kishte tregues se ai po planifikonte të shkonte në luftë, kur kishte biseduar me Selleverin në fundin e verës së kaluar.

“Kjo është një familje normale. Sellveri ka qenë disa vjet në Gjermani”, thotë kushëriri i Hrustiç, i cili kërkoi që të mos i publikohej emri dhe mbiemri.

Ai shprehet se është rritur me Sellverin dhe kanë pasur raport të afërt.

“Kur e pashë videon ku ai thotë se ka luftuar për Rusinë, u befasova. Nuk e prisja dhe askush nuk e dinte që kishte shkuar”, thotë ky banor i Zenicës.

REL-i është përpjekur të zbulojë se për çfarë problemesh ligjore flet Hrustiqi në video, por anëtarët e familjes së tij nuk treguan se për çfarë bëhet fjalë.

Në disa profile në rrjete sociale, Hrustiç ka publikuar kryesisht fotografi të tij. Në një profil në Facebook, në janar të vitit 2025 ai kishte shpërndarë edhe një fotografi të presidentit rus, Vladimir Putin.

Cila është procedura e mundshme për Hrustiqin?

Shtabi Koordinues për trajtimin e të burgosurve të luftës është agjenci zyrtare qeveritare e Ukrainës, përgjegjëse për kërkimin dhe kthimin në atdhe të të burgosurve ukrainas të luftës, si dhe për trajtimin e të burgosurve të luftës nga pala armike.

Hrustiç, së bashku me dhjetëra mijëra shtetas të huaj për të cilët vlerësohet se i janë bashkuar ushtrisë ruse, bënë pjesë në pjesën e të burgosurve të luftës nga pala armike.

Ushtarët rusë që luftojnë në Ukrainë kanë status juridik të luftëtarëve, gjë që u jep atyre të drejta dhe mbrojtje të veçanta të parashikuara me Konventën e Gjenevës të vitit 1949.

Nga ana tjetër, mercenarët e huaj kanë një status të veçantë sipas së drejtës ndërkombëtare, si pjesëmarrës në konflikt të armatosur.

Teksa një luftëtar nuk mund të ndiqet penalisht vetëm për shkak të pjesëmarrjes në armiqësi – pasi vepron në emër të ushtrisë së shtetit të tij – një mercenar nuk e gëzon këtë privilegj.

Ai mund të ndiqet penalisht, gjë që është pikërisht ajo që po bën sistemi ukrainas i zbatimit të ligjit, ka shkruar Instituti për Raportim mbi Luftën dhe Paqen (IWPR). Më së shpeshti nën hetim janë mercenarët e kompanisë private ushtarake Wagner. Për aq kohë sa ishte aktive, kjo kompani rekrutonte shtetas të huaj nga anembanë bota.

Konventa e Gjenevës parashikon po ashtu trajtimin njerëzor të të burgosurve të luftës, përkatësisht të pjesëtarëve të forcave të vendeve ndërluftuese.

Ndërkaq, sa i përket luftëtarëve nga një shtet i tretë që i bashkohen një ushtrie në luftë, çështja nuk është e thjeshtë.

“Nëse janë përfshirë në forcat e armatosura të Ministrisë së Mbrojtjes së Rusisë, ata kanë statusin e luftëtarit. Kjo u jep të drejta të të burgosurve të luftës dhe ua heq statusin e mercenarit”, tha Andrii Yakovlev, ekspert i të drejtës ndërkombëtare humanitare për median ukrainase, Frontliner.

Regarding the reporting on this topic, this Ukrainian media outlet writes that Russia is rarely interested in the fate of captured foreign fighters. According to this media outlet, Russia has not requested any exchange of foreigners captured in Ukraine, except for a few cases of citizens of Belarus and Uzbekistan.

Radio Free Europe has requested a response from the Security Service of Ukraine, the Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, which deal with issues of prisoners of war and communication with the countries from which they come, but as of the publication of this text, these institutions have not responded regarding the possible fate of Hrusti?.

The three competent Bosnian ministries, namely Security, Foreign Affairs and Justice, have not responded to whether they have been notified about the case of Sellver Hrusti?.

Hrusti? speaks of difficult conditions on the war front

Hrusti?, in the published video, also stated that mercenaries are sent to the front line with only half a liter of water and one or two small boxes of meat.

"Two people, me and a colleague, have to share half a liter of water and some food. Sometimes some go out to find something and get killed. Many make mistakes. They go out and get killed by the drone. Drones are terrible," says Hrusti?.

He claims that the mortality rate among Russian mercenaries is high and that the chances of survival are very small.

REL has not been able to determine when exactly Hrusti? was detained by the Ukrainian military.

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in Ukraine has not responded to REL's question about when and where the Bosnian and Herzegovina citizen was captured, nor what the possible procedure is in his case.

Earlier, Ukraine notified Bosnia and Herzegovina of 12 people suspected of having participated in war crimes in Ukraine as mercenaries of the Russian groups Wagner and Redut.

Joining foreign armies constitutes a criminal offense under the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Previously, due to going to the front in Ukraine, namely due to joining the Russian army, legal action was taken against Bosnian citizen Gavrilo Stevi?, who was finally acquitted of charges that he had fought in Ukraine in 2015, due to lack of evidence.

The other case, that of Darijo Risti?, who was arrested after returning to Bosnia in September 2025, is still ongoing. As REL learns, an indictment is expected to be filed against him and a plea agreement is expected.

REL also reported late last year on the case of Petar Popovi?, another Bosnian citizen who joined the Russian army, for whom Bosnia and Herzegovina requested an arrest warrant, which INTERPOL refused.

So far, it is known that just over 20 people from Bosnia and Herzegovina have joined the Russian army. /REL