Residents of Ranilug: Detonation scared us, the situation is worrying, it has never happened before

The explosive device thrown on a local establishment belonging to the family house of Zoran Maksimovic, a member of the Serb List in the Kosovo Assembly, in Ranilug around 11 p.m. on Saturday has brought fear and unrest among the locals in the southern part of Kosovo, as well as concerns about the future survival of Serbs in the area.

In an interview with Kosovo Online, they mentioned that something like this had never happened before in Ranilug and that they felt additional pressure as they were uncertain that such an incident would not happen again in the near future.

The President of the interim body of Kosovska Kamenica, Tanja Aksic, pointed out that in recent months, there had been constant pressure on Serbs both in the north and south.

"This has never happened before in the municipality of Kosovska Kamenica. A few months ago, we had the arrest of our fellow countryman, Zlatan Arsic, who was innocently arrested, and what happened on Saturday shook all the residents of the municipality, especially those in Ranilug," Aksic emphasized.

According to her, the four-member family of Zoran Maksimovic, whose yard was targeted with an explosive device around 11 p.m. on Saturday, is hardworking, honest, and respectable.

"We are all fearful; this is a shock to all of us. The international community, as well as relevant institutions in Kosovo, do not react. They are quick when it comes to arresting, expelling, and intimidating Serbs, but when it comes to protecting the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, they turn a deaf ear. We don't feel safe; we fear for our lives," Aksic said.

She stressed that the fact that people in Kosovo lived in fear, constant pressure, and stress in the 21st century was unprecedented in any other part of Europe.

Goran Stoiljkovic, a resident of Ranilug, stated that the detonation of the explosive device had woken him up from sleep.

He mentioned that since he had worked all day, he had gone to bed early to sleep.

"Around 10:45 p.m., I heard an explosion. It has never happened before; we are all concerned in the village of Ranilug," he added.

Milan Tomic from Ranilug emphasized that the event had caused a lot of anxiety in their community.

As he said, no one expected this to happen, and at first, they thought the detonation was thunder.

However, when they realized that something had exploded, he thought it was a gas cylinder, and in the morning, he found out what really happened.

"Until now, we haven't had such a situation where someone throws a bomb. The situation is very alarming; we are all frightened because we don't know if a similar situation will occur today or tomorrow," Tomic said.

Tomic called on the international community to react and to find and bring the perpetrators to justice.

"If this continues, there will be no life for us here," Tomic concludes, visibly concerned about the future of his family and fellow countrymen in Ranilug.