Authored by Petrit Latifi
The Russian consul Grigoriy Shcherbina was killed in 1903 by an Albanian named Halit Ibrahim Popofci on the orders of Isa Boletini. But why was he killed? In 1903, Russia appointed Gregory Stepanovich Shcherbina as a consul in Mitrovica during the last years of the Ottoman presence in the Balkans “presumably to get information on the suffering of Serbian people”. However, the consul’s role was not to gather facts but to influence the political situation arising from civil strife in Dardania (Kosovo).
Schterbina in Shkodër in 1902
“The Russians have historically not been loved in the territory of Kosovo and that they have historically worked against Albanian interests, as evidenced by the case of the murder of the Russian consul Grigory Stepanovich Shterbina, in 1903 in Mitrovica by Halit (Ibrahim) Popofci.
On the day of Russian diplomacy, officials of the Russian Language Department of the Faculty of Philosophy in North Mitrovica, commemorated and placed wreaths of flowers at the statue of Shterbina in north Mitrovica.
Schterbina in Albanian folklore dress.
After being appointed consul in Mitrovica at the end of 1902, Shterbina was shot to death by Popofci, on the orders of Isa Boletini.
Halit (Ibrahim) Popofci was an Albanian from Selishta, mentioned by Suka and was a corporal in the Fourth Tabor of the 17th Regiment of the General Staff of the Ottoman Army in Mitrovica.
Schterbina (fourth from the left)
In 1903, Grigoriy Stepanovich Shterbina was appointed Russian consul in Mitrovica and was known for his anti-Albanian tendencies. Since his appointment caused great anger among the Albanians of that time, he was to be taken under protection by the Ottoman garrison of Mitrovica. Historical sources of the time testify that Shterbina, together with the Ottoman troops, had brutally suppressed the protests and revolts of the Albanians of the time.“
Reference
Balkan Academia 