Brothers Dragisa and Jovan Vicentijevic and Igor Dimovic pleaded not guilty on Monday at the Prishtina Basic Court to charges related to the canal explosion in the village of Varage in Kosovo’s northern municipality of Zubin Potok in November 2024.

Kosovo’s Special Prosecution filed an indictment in December 2025 charging them with terrorism, espionage and weapons-related offences. Prosecutors allege that the Vicentijevic brothers, along with others yet to be identified, planted about 20 kilograms of TNT in the canal.

“J.V. and D.V. are accused of having activated the explosion through a bag, which they tied with a rope to a concrete pillar of the Iber-Lepenc canal, causing disruption to the supply of drinking water, endangering production of electricity, and costing the Iber-Lepenc enterprise 376,774 euros,” the prosecution said.

Dimovic is charged with illegal possession of weapons.

Defence lawyer Milos Delevic said they would challenge the indictment within the 30-day legal deadline. “We have witnesses and material evidence that support the defendants’ alibis. We expect a fair trial,” he said.

Dragisa and Jovan Vicentijevic have been in custody since their arrest following the explosion. Dimovic remains free, pending trial.

The Iber-Lepenc Hydroeconomic Enterprise supplies drinking water to several cities in Kosovo and provides essential cooling water for the Kosovo Energy Corporation’s power plants.

Soil Samples, DNA, and Surveillance: The Forensic Trail Behind Kosovo’s Canal Explosion Indictment

Among the prosecution’s evidence is comparison of soil found on the suspects’ boots with soil samples collected both from their home and the blast site.

The US FBI confirmed that the soil inside the suspects’ footwear matched the soil from the site of the explosion, supporting the prosecution’s claim that the Vicentijevic brothers were at the canal when the blast occurred.

As well as the soil samples, a technical report,from the Italian Interior Ministry revealed that DNA traces found on the fuse, which was 9.2 metres long, belonged to Jovan Vicentijevic.

Prosecutors alleged that Jovan Vicentijevic operated as a senior intelligence officer for Serbia’s Military Intelligence Service. This has not been confirmed by Serbia.