DODIK: BOBAN KUSTURIĆ SAVED HUNDREDS OF LIVES AND WAS CLOSE FRIEND, A MAN I LOVED AND RESPECTED

BANJA LUKA, MAY 6 /SRNA/ – SNSD President Milorad Dodik has stressed today that the late Head of the Aviation Department of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior /MOI/, Boban Kusturić, was a man he loved and respected and who had saved hundreds of lives.

"Boban was my close friend, a man I loved, respected and trusted. Boban is a man who saved hundreds of lives, and lost his own," Dodik wrote on the social network X. Dodik said he would miss his kindness, nobility and cheerfulness. "This Đurđevdan /Saint George's Day/ is sad for me, this celebration is sad for us, Boban. I can get used to everything, but I cannot get used to the death of loved ones. May God have mercy on his soul. May the angels protect him and grant him eternal peace," Dodik stated. Boban Kusturić /52/, Head of the Aviation Department of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior, was found dead in a weekend house in the Banja Luka settlement of Česma and a police investigation determined that there were no elements of a criminal act in his death. Kusturić was born on September 8, 1974, in Banja Luka. He graduated from the Military Academy of the Yugoslav Army - Air Force and Air Defense Department in Belgrade in 1997, earning the title of aviation officer - pilot. He served as a pilot in the Army of Republika Srpska from 1997 to 2005. After that, he continued working in the Directorate for Civil Aviation of Republika Srpska as head of the SAR Helicopter Rescue Unit. He served as Director of the Republika Srpska Helicopter Service from 2008 to April 2025, and after its reorganization and the formation of the Aviation Department, he served as its head. He was awarded the Order of Miloš Obilić by the President of Republika Srpska.