Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 17/4/2025; Author: Nerma Šehović
The footage of a civilian being wounded in a sniper attack in 1994 in Sarajevo is being shared on social media with claims that it is a “propaganda movie” or a staged incident. The footage is authentic, and the attack captured in it is documented.
On April 6, 2025, a short video of a sniper attack on civilians in Sarajevo was posted on the X profile Majjjja, with the following caption:
How propaganda films are made: Here’s how. Sarajevo 1992. CNN, BBC cameras ready, UN transporters, and then a burst of gunfire. Those who ran before the shot fell as if mown down, while others nearby walked around confused, not understanding what was happening?! The “wounded man” signals, not knowing why they aren’t carrying him. A whistle signals the end.
The video shows a group of people hiding from sniper fire behind a UNPROFOR transporter and helping the wounded reach the vehicle.
The video, along with the same claims about a “propaganda movie”, was posted on Facebook and Instagram on April 6. The post on X was also retweeted by Gorica Dodik, daughter of the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik.
What are the Facts?
The video shared on the X profile Majjjja was recorded on October 8, 1994, and shows one of the sniper attacks on civilians in Sarajevo that day. Media at the time reported that the attacks were carried out from positions of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in the city (1, 2). The full video is available on the AP Archive YouTube channel and also shows the wounded being transported to the hospital (archived version is available here). In the footage, bullets can be seen, as well as blood on the clothing of the wounded individuals. In the continuation of the footage (which is not shown in the post on X), pants covered in blood and a bullet hole in the leg of one of the wounded young men are clearly visible for a moment as he is brought into the hospital.
According to reports from international media, on that day, fire was also opened from VRS positions on three trams. One person was killed and 11 were wounded, including five children. The attacks followed a statement made by then Bosnian Serb leadership official Momcilo Krajisnik to the Srna news agency, in which he insinuated that the VRS would retaliate for the deaths of 20 soldiers and four nurses in an earlier attack by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (link).
The sniper attack from the footage recorded on October 8, 1994, was included, along with 15 others, in the indictment against former VRS General Ratko Mladic, who was ultimately convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. According to the web portal Detektor, the judgments of the Hague Tribunal established that during the siege of Sarajevo, sniper fire was opened from VRS positions in more than 30 incidents at locations such as the Grbavica neighborhood, the Jewish Cemetery, Vrace, Hrasno Hill, Spicasta Stijena, Baba Stijene, Nedzarici, and near the Orthodox Church in Dobrinja.
The part of the city where this footage, now falsely claimed on social media to be a “propaganda movie” – was recorded, was colloquially known as “Sniper Alley” due to the frequent sniper fire coming from VRS positions on nearby Grbavica.
The identities of the wounded individuals shown in the footage are known. They were identified in a post by the X profile Sniper Alley, created by Dzemil Hodzic with the goal of collecting photographs from the time of the Sarajevo siege and creating a publicly accessible archive. In a post from August 2022, it was stated that the wounded individuals in the footage are Mirza Ustamujic, Dzana Kazic, and Amir Goro. The young man in the green jacket seen in the footage is Amir Goro, who was not yet 14 years old at the time. He passed away in Sarajevo in 2019 at the age of 40.
Therefore, the video shared on the social network X shows a documented sniper attack on civilians in Sarajevo, in which three people were wounded.
The sniper attacks of October 8, 1994, were also the subject of investigation during the trial of Ratko Mladić.
Besides being factually unfounded, describing the footage of the sniper attack as a “propaganda movie”, along with insinuations that the wounded individuals in the video are actors, represents an attempt at revisionism. Such posts retraumatize the victims and their families and undermine efforts to build a culture of remembrance, which is crucial in post-conflict societies.
Given all the facts, we rate the initial post that described the footage of the sniper attack on civilians in Sarajevo in October 1994 as a “propaganda movie” as fake news and a conspiracy theory. Other posts sharing the same claims are rated as the distribution of fake news and a conspiracy theory.
