Sabunjin: Did the Danilovgrad Killer Fight in Ukraine?
Montenegrin investigators are asking foreign services about Mihail Sabunjin's possible ties to fighters in Ukraine, while mapping his border crossings before the triple murder in Danilovgrad.
Montenegro’s security services have asked partner agencies abroad for information on any possible ties between Mihail Nikolayevich Sabunjin and people who fought in Ukraine. For Serbia, the check matters for a specific reason: the suspect first entered Montenegro from Serbia, and the Western Balkans has repeatedly come up in recent years as ground where Russian services route and redirect their own citizens.
On August 31, Sabunjin killed three employees at the Ceska Zbrojovka firing range in the village of Strahinici near Danilovgrad: Nemanja Kapor (20), Petar Globarevic (24) and Momir Radonjic (67). Investigators are now trying to establish whether he underwent military or other specialized training and whether he had spent time on the Ukrainian battlefield. There is no official confirmation of this so far, and regional media report the possibility is being weighed as one option within a broader review of his background, contacts and reasons for coming to Montenegro.
How he moved before the crime
He first entered Montenegro by bus from Serbia, through the Dobrakovo border crossing, on July 7, 2026. What followed, according to the established timeline, breaks sharply with ordinary tourist travel: between July 7 and 12, in just six days, he crossed the state border eight times, taking buses into Bosnia and Herzegovina and returning through the Sitnica, Scepan Polje and Vracenovici crossings. His use of the Scepan Polje crossing shows he also spent time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not only in Montenegro. It is precisely this frequency of travel that led investigators to request data from partner services, to establish who he was in contact with before and during his time in Montenegro.
What the firing range footage shows
Surveillance cameras at the range recorded Sabunjin firing two pistols at the same time. According to sources who have reviewed the footage, his movement and reaction speed while handling two firearms go beyond what an average range visitor would show. That alone is not proof he served in the military or took part in combat, but it is one of the directions the investigation is now following. Police Directorate chief Lazar Scepanovic has said Sabunjin visited the Danilovgrad range on multiple occasions and was not registered in police records as a person of security interest.
Police and the National Security Agency are analyzing his phones, contacts, communications and movements, focusing in particular on whether he kept in touch with Russian citizens who fought in Ukraine, and whether anyone from that circle was, or had previously been, in Montenegro or the wider region.
Debts in Russia and a family trace
Sabunjin, born in February 1996 in the town of Osa and later relocated to Perm, had at least two outstanding debts in Russia totaling around 500,000 rubles, roughly 5,000 euros. Notary offices in Perm opened collection proceedings against him in late 2025 and early 2026. In his hometown he worked in sports equipment sales and did carpentry, and regional media report that before leaving Russia he was also under investigation for an assault in Perm.
Dmitry Leyn, founder of the Telegram channel that first reported his movement toward Montenegro, shared an assessment from people who knew him:
Colleagues and clients considered him a talented craftsman, but behind his outward professionalism lay serious psychological problems, showing up as a lack of humanity, outbursts of uncontrolled aggression and an increasingly pronounced obsession with firearms.
Manhunt and the end in Herceg Novi
After the killings at the firing range, Sabunjin fled, taking a weapon, ammunition and one victim’s car. Police special units and a Montenegrin Army helicopter joined the search, which ended at 3:35 a.m. when he took his own life in the woods above the Topla neighborhood of Herceg Novi. Montenegro’s government declared September 1 and 2 days of mourning, and the welcoming ceremony for first graders at Danilovgrad’s elementary schools, normally a shared moment of celebration for the local community, was pushed back to September 3. Srpske novine previously reported on how the killer of three was found dead near Herceg Novi, in the overnight operation that closed out the manhunt.
Why this line of inquiry matters for the region
Whether Sabunjin had combat experience in Ukraine is not just a detail in one killer’s biography. European security services have warned for some time about the risk of Russian agents infiltrating the continent posing as deserters or political refugees, and about sabotage operations, such as arson or attacks on infrastructure, carried out by so called disposable agents: Russian citizens already inside Europe who are later recruited by the GRU military intelligence service through encrypted apps. Montenegro has so far allowed Russian citizens to enter visa free for up to 30 days, but the government decided on July 23, 2026 to end that arrangement for good starting November 1, to align with Schengen and EU visa policy, with an exception only for those who already hold a valid Schengen, US or UK visa. For Serbia, which shares a border with Montenegro and is the country through which Sabunjin entered the region, the outcome of this investigation will show whether this is an isolated case or a pattern that calls for a joint response from security services across the Western Balkans.
