This group was allegedly going to storm the Montenegrin Parliament, shoot the prime minister Milo Djukanovic, and install a pro-Moscow party (the name of the party is not specified).
The “Russian fingerprints” on the October plot, as it is added in the article, have heightened intrigue about Moscow’s ambitions in a part of Europe hitherto thought to be gravitating towards the EU’s orbit.
Diplomatic sources told the Guardian the Belgrade government quietly deported the Russians after the intervention of the head of the Russian security council, Nikolai Patrushev.
Patrushev flew to Belgrade on 26 October in an apparent effort to contain the scandal.
On that day, CDM reported that it was possible that Patrushev, who appeared to be Vladimir Putin’s favourite KGB agent, arrived to Belgrade because of the Montenegrin “case”.
The Guardian also raises the question whether there was a connection between the operation in Montenegro and the cache of arms that was found in Jajinci near the home of the Serbian prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic.
In addition, the British media outlet says that Djukanovic has been instrumental in pulling his country to the verge of NATO membership, which has dashed Russian hopes of securing a naval foothold on the Adriatic.
The Guardian notes that Moscow lobbied hard in recent years for transit and maintenance facilities at the ports of Bar and Kotor. The importance of such facilities was demonstrated late last month when the Russian carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov and its battle group was denied refuelling in European ports along their way to support the Russian military effort in Syria, it says.
Zakharova to Guardian: I pronounce you liars of the day
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called The Guardian “liars of the day”.
She posted that on her Facebook account, after The Guardian reported that Serbia silently deported a group of Russians suspected of involvement in a coup plot in Montenegro.
“The Guardian’s article in which sources point out that Patrushev apologised for the ‘Russian nationalists’ who had planned to kill the Montenegrin PM Milo Djukanovic is a classic provocation aimed at spreading false information. I pronounce you ‘liars of the day’”, said Zakharova.
