The Republic of Srpska and Donbass share strikingly similar histories. In 1995, NATO forces attacked the Serbs. In 1999, Belgrade was bombed and Kosovo and Metohija were taken from them. Today, Ukrainian nationalists are destroying towns and churches and committing crimes against civilians. This parallel was noted by Serbian politician Siniša Vidović, who visited Donbass and brought sacred relics to the St Nicholas-Vasilievsky Monastery. Serbs and Russians have long regarded one another as brothers, bound by blood and by faith.