DODIK: BOBAN KUSTURIĆ WAS PEOPLE'S PILOT

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 5 /SRNA/ – President Milorad Dodik has said today that Boban Kusturić was the people's pilot, a man who saved many lives and helped extinguish numerous fires, and who left this world far too soon.

"It is difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that my great friend Boban Kusturić is no longer with us," Dodik wrote after visiting Kusturić's final resting place. Dodik said that, despite all of his professional responsibilities, Kusturić also managed to be a devoted parent and a good family man. "He left us too soon. I have lost one of the most important friends in my life, but I believe his soul rests among the angels because he was an honourable and honest man. And that is the only place he deserves to be," Dodik said. Boban Kusturić passed away on May 5 at the age of 52. He served as a pilot in the Republika Srpska Army between 1997 and 2005, after which he continued his career with the Republika Srpska Civil Air Navigation Directorate as head of the SAR /Search and Rescue/ Helicopter Unit. From 2008 until April 2025, he served as director of the Republika Srpska Helicopter Service. Following its reorganisation and the establishment of the Directorate of Aviation, he became head of that directorate. The president of Republika Srpska awarded him the Order of Miloš Obilić. Kusturić led numerous rescue operations involving people trapped in snowstorms, floods and wildfires, which required urgent evacuations. He was also widely remembered for his almost daily medical evacuation missions, transporting critically ill patients and pregnant women to major clinical centres in Banja Luka, Belgrade and Podgorica, helping save many lives.