Serbia arrests 11 suspects for placing pig heads outside Paris mosques

Serbian police have arrested 11 people and are searching for another on suspicion of committing crimes of racial and other discrimination, as well as espionage, the country’s interior ministry announced, according to local media reports.

The Serbian interior ministry commented, without mentioning possible Russian link, that the suspects carried out a series of racist acts in Paris and Berlin over a four-month period, targeting Jewish and Muslim sites.

“They carried out these activities between April and September 2025, splashing green paint on the Holocaust Memorial, several synagogues and a Jewish restaurant, pasting stickers with ‘genocidal’ content, and placing pig heads near Muslim religious buildings. These actions were committed both in the Paris region and in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, where written messages were also displayed,” the Serbian ministry said in a statement.

The arrests were made in a joint operation between the police directorate in Smederevo, central Serbia, and the country’s Security and Information Agency.

Authorities believe that one of the suspects, who remains at large, acted “under the instructions of a foreign intelligence service” and organised as well as trained a 14-member group of Serbian citizens. The arrests were carried out in the areas of Velika Plana and Belgrade.

Foreign nationals linked to pig heads outside Paris Mosques, echoing previous Russian provocations

The ministry added that the group’s aim was to undermine fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed under international law and treaties in force in France and Germany, on the basis of race, skin colour, religion, nationality, and ethnic origin.

“Their goal was also to disseminate ideas promoting and inciting hatred, discrimination and violence based on differences in the personal characteristics of certain groups of people,” the statement said.

Serbian authorities claim that one member of the group acted under foreign intelligence orders, but no mention was made of Russia. According to Le Monde, on the night of 8 September, the same person based in Serbia coordinated the green paint attacks on the Shoah Memorial, three synagogues and a restaurant in Paris in May, and the placement of nine pig heads in front of mosques across the Paris region on 8 September.

The investigation into recent foreign interference operations aimed at sowing discord in French society has been making progress. A French judicial source confirmed that an arrest warrant had been issued for this individual. The findings have reinforced suspicions of involvement by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. That hypothesis has been further supported by intelligence shared between France and allied countries.

Investigators have reportedly focused on the former Unit 29155 of the GRU. This group, long tasked with sabotage and assassinations abroad, was absorbed in the early 2020s into the SSD unit, responsible for “special” activities, and headed by General Andrei Averianov, formerly of Unit 29155.

The discovery of nine decapitated pig heads outside mosques in Paris sparked an intense debate on Islamophobia in France.

The case began to unravel when a farmer in Normandy came forward, claiming that two men in a vehicle with Serbian licence plates had purchased a dozen pig heads from him. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, CCTV footage confirmed this account, showing the men travelling to Paris before placing pig heads outside mosques in the capital and four suburbs: Montreuil, Montrouge, Malakoff, and Gentilly.

French media reported that the surname of President Emmanuel Macron was inscribed on one of the pig heads.

🔴"Des têtes de cochon ont été découvertes sur la voie publique devant l'entrée de plusieurs mosquées de l'agglomération" 🐷🕌 ce matin du mardi 9 septembre, a annoncé le préfet de police de Paris #macron #cochon #mosquée @BFMTV pic.twitter.com/ITNKTvFpZO
— Léo_G.🇫🇷🇮🇹 (@Leo_Gkr) September 9, 2025

The suspects are believed to have fled French territory and crossed into Belgium the following morning. Prosecutors told EuroVerify that they likely used a Croatian phone number traced to the French-Belgian border crossing.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into “serving the interests of a foreign power or a foreign-controlled company or organisation” as well as incitement to “hatred or violence on the grounds of origin, ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion”. These charges carry prison terms of six years and one year respectively.

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said that “one cannot help but draw parallels with previous actions which were proven to be acts of foreign interference”.

In October 2023 around 60 blue Stars of David were spray-painted on buildings in Paris’s 14th arrondissement, initially perceived as antisemitic amid the Israel-Gaza conflict. French authorities later arrested a Moldovan couple, with suspicions pointing to a pro-Russian Moldovan businessman as their handler. A confidential memo from France’s DGSI (General Directorate for Internal Security) confirmed Russian security services orchestrated the act to stoke tensions.

In May 2024, red hand symbols were painted on Paris’s Holocaust Memorial and other sites, with four Bulgarians set to stand trial in October 2025. The Paris prosecutor linked this to Russian intelligence, citing a pattern of using Eastern European proxies to inflame antisemitism and social unrest.

On 1 June 2024 five life-sized coffins draped in French flags, labeled “French soldiers in Ukraine,” were placed near the Eiffel Tower. The coffins were filled with plaster and accompanied by a banner protesting France’s military aid to Ukraine. French police arrested three individuals: a Bulgarian, a Ukrainian and a German. French authorities, including the DGSI (General Directorate for Internal Security), identified the incident as part of a Russian-orchestrated campaign to sow discord.

Caption: Illustrative photo. Police vehicles at the scene after an attack near the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, 29 June 2024. EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC