The icon "brought" Dodik into a fight with his Russian friends, the investigation into the Serbian leader of Bosnia and Herzegovina is suspended

Ukrainian authorities have confirmed to Bosnia-Herzegovina judicial authorities that the icon that Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik previously presented to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is practically worthless, so the BiH Prosecutor's Office has suspended the open investigation into cause for indications that the icon may have been stolen. As local media in Bosnia and Herzegovina reported on Monday, the state prosecutor's office confirmed that the suspended investigation against Dodik was launched after he presented the head of Russian diplomacy with an icon as a "sign of Serbian-Russian friendship" during his visit to Sarajevo at the end of 2020. Ukrainian authorities have sought to check whether the icon was stolen from the territory of that country under Russian occupation and whether it belongs to the list of works of art of national importance. The State Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine was also involved in the investigation, and their investigators determined that the icon was not on the country's cultural heritage list. "No evidence was found that would indicate that the work of art was illegally moved, stolen from the territory of Ukraine and that it has exceptional artistic value, nor that it belongs to the national cultural heritage of Ukraine and that it is a national value." it is stated in the clarification of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, published by the Detektor portal. After conflicting information about the value and origin of the donated icon, Lavrov returned it to Dodik, who then explained that he had received it from a person whose name he had forgotten, so even today its origin is unknown. However, the visit was marred by scandals and relations between Moscow and Sarajevo deteriorated.