Milorad Dodik, the President of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, said it was an honour to receive the Order of Alexander Nevsky, which he was awarded for his “great contribution” to the relations between the Serb-majority region and Russia.

“Thanks to President of Russia Vladimir Putin for doing me a great honour by presenting me the Order of Alexander Nevsky,” Dodik posted on X.

Russian media reported last year that Putin awarded Bosnian Serb leader with the Order, weeks after their meeting in Moscow.

Today, a few months later, Dodik and Putin met in the Republic of Tatarstan, which is part of the Russian Federation.

This is Dodik's fourth meeting with Putin since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and their tenth encounter since 2014.