Niš Fortress
Every exhibit has a permanent ID — S-01 videos, M-01 media, P-01 confirmations and aftermath, I-01 statements — and its own page with full details. The ID can be cited in a complaint, lawsuit or article. Quotes are kept in the original Serbian with an English translation.
Filmed from the opposite bank of the Nišava: a lit bridge at the left edge, fireworks above the Fortress, red flares along the rampart and flames on it.
Snsovci zapalili nišku tvrđavu prilikom bakljade i vatrometa
Filmed from the crowd on the Fortress Bridge, towards the rampart across the river: a lamp post with a coiled cable, a blue square sign, a Serbian flag; flames along the top of the rampart and red flare smoke.
Natpis na snimku: „Ćaci zapalili Nišku tvrđavu!“ · opis: #niš #sns #ćaci
A screen recording of Instagram reel S-02; the “podizanje_svesti · Original audio” interface and the flames on the rampart are visible.
Naprednjaci zapalili Tvrđavu na skupu u Nišu.
Photo/card from position B (the Fortress Bridge).
Strašne scene trenutno na Niškoj tvrđavi. Nakon bakljade SNS-a, tvrđava ostala u plamenu.
Ground-level view from a distance; onlookers in the foreground, flames along the grassy rampart. A landscape clip inside a vertical frame. Filmed from King Milan Square, at the south end of the Fortress Bridge.
„Kako nam čitaoci javljaju… zapaljena zastava… Vatra je… zahvatila i obližnje rastinje. Čekamo više informacija“ (skraćeno)
A photo from the crowd on the Fortress Bridge: flames along the top of the rampart, red flare smoke, a lamp post with a coiled cable, a blue sign, a Serbian flag — the same landmarks as S-02, probably a still from that video.
Ni Turci, ni Austrougari, ni bilo koji drugi okupatori nisu zapalili nišku Tvrđavu. Naprednjacima je uspelo. Varvari!
Video by a local Niš account, filmed from the northern part of the Fortress Bridge, closer to the rampart.
Došlo je do požara na tvrdjavi prilikom upotrebe velikog broja pirotehničkih stredstava na skupu SNS-a ali je na svu sreću brzo lokalizovan i bez posledica.
A 56-second vertical video, filmed from the Fortress Bridge. The length matters: AI video-editing tools process clips of 5 to at most 30 seconds per pass.
Ćaci idioti iz @sns_srbija zapalili Tvrđavu u Nišu, pokušavajući da organizuju vatromet u čast svog Nerona @avucic How appropriate!
Framing across the Nišava: embankment terraces, fireworks, a lit structure at the left edge — matches S-01 (same footage or the same spot).
„…večeras na svom skupu iz obesti zapalili nišku Tvrdjavu…“ (skraćeno)
A follower’s video: firefighters putting out the fire on the rampart. Firefighters on the scene are a detail an AI fabrication would have to invent and match across all other videos — and the firefighters themselves confirmed the fire to N1 (M-05).
Vatrogasci gase požar koji je, kako pojedini mediji pišu, nastao tokom bakljade pristalica Srpske napredne stranke na Niškoj Tvrđavi. Čekamo još informacija. Snimak poslao pratilac našeg profila.
A repost of S-02, as the author states in the caption.
„NIŠKI SNS JE ZAPALIO TVRĐAVU!!! …Video preuzet od @podizanje_svesti“
A graphic card with a frame from position B (the Fortress Bridge); flags with the Cyrillic text “СРПСКА…” in the foreground.
„…pristalice SNS su palili baklje na bedemu Tvrđave i zapalili travu i sam bedem. Na terenu je policija, požar je ugašen…“
Reel from position B (the Fortress Bridge): a silhouetted person standing on the rampart among flares and flames.
Isti opis kao S-12.
Street-level, from the crowd: a round crenellated stone tower on the left, a traffic light and a lamp post, flames along the wall on the right. Filmed from the northern part of the Fortress Bridge (position C), closest to the rampart.
Opis: „Večeras u Nišu“ · natpis na snimku: „СНС ЗАПАЛИО НИШКУ ТВРЂАВУ“
A Facebook video; the post URL credits “vlalaz x”, so it is probably S-01 or S-03.
Naprednjaci zapalili Tvrđavu na skupu u Nišu
The title repeats the on-screen text of S-02, so it is probably a repost of that video. Facebook does not allow embedding (“may contain content owned by someone else”).
ĆACI ZAPALILI NIŠKU TVRĐAVU
A BBC News Serbian video. An international public broadcaster with its own editorial standards.
Požar na zidinama Niške tvrđave tokom SNS skupa
The author of S-02 records their phone screen while playing the original fire video in the gallery (iPhone Photos app). The gallery header shows “Ponedeljak [Monday] · 19:26” — the day and time the original was recorded. In the frame: large flames along the rampart, the lamp post with a ring, a flag, the crowd (position B, the Fortress Bridge). An inset shows a clip of the President from the “Kolegijum” show (TV Informer). The phone’s status bar shows 22:20 — when the screen recording was made.
Pitanje za naprednjake koji su, kao i ja, bili ispred Niške tvrđave: kako se osećate dok slušate Acu kako laže?🤔 #niš #srbija #sns #ćaci
Rally report: the march set off at 18:00 from the National Theatre and went “to the Fortress Bridge, where Dragoslav Pavlović addressed the gathering”. It mentions fireworks but not the fire.
Kolona građana kretala se od Narodnog pozorišta kroz centralni deo grada, Voždovom ulicom ka Trgu kralja Milana, a potom do Tvrđavskog mosta, gde se okupljenima obratio Dragoslav Pavlović.
The local portal’s first report, with its own photos (“Foto: JV”, “foto: Milan Zirojević”) — the reporter was on the scene. Describes the march route, flares lit on the rampart, burning grass and rampart; police and ambulance on the scene.
Beta agency report: the speech was followed by fireworks and torches on the walls, which set dry grass alight. According to Beta, pro-government Niš TV cut its live broadcast without sign-off when the people who lit the flares started putting out the fire. Video S-03 is embedded.
N1 quotes the firefighters and embeds video S-01; it also reports, citing Južne vesti, that black burn marks are visible.
Vatrogasci u Nišu su u prvom telefonskom razgovoru za N1 rekli da je gorelo nisko rastinje i trava i da je požar brzo ugašen.
Niš TV broadcast the rally live. Its report mentions fireworks, not the fire (see also M-04 on the cut broadcast).
Workers of the city utility “Mediana” “cleaned” the area early in the morning, before 7 a.m. — before the police on-site investigation. A team from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments attended the investigation. Criminal complaints announced (Dr Dragan Milić group, PODES, Kreni-Promeni).
radnici JKP Mediane su rano jutros, još pre 7 časova, efikasno „očistili“
N1’s reporter: the cleaning took place “shortly before seven”; the burned section was ploughed, but burn residue is still visible.
„Bili smo malopre na bedemima, sada može da se kaže da su preorani, ali se vide ostaci gde je gorelo“
Photos by Ljubica Jocić, “The Fortress, the day after”; eyewitnesses say the Fortress was cleaned early in the morning.
Niška policija je bila na terenu od 8 sati, a u 10 sati je uviđaj završen. Ostao je, nakon uviđaja, trag gareži na bedemu.
A key document on the removal of traces. Niš Basic Prosecutor’s Office: it ordered the scene to be secured immediately; because of the darkness the duty prosecutor postponed the investigation until daylight and ordered police to guard the scene so it would not be disturbed. The director of the “Mediana” utility says that, to her knowledge, they did not clean — contrary to eyewitnesses (P-01, P-02, P-06). Monuments Institute director Dušan Andrejević had no data on damage at that moment.
S obzirom na mrak, dežurni tužilac je naložio da se zastane s tim uviđajem zbog kako bi se on vršio po danu kada se lepo vidi. Da se ne bi eventualno lice mesta narušilo u međuvremenu, dežurni tužilac je naložio da policija obezbeđuje lice mesta.
Published at 11:19, after the investigation, with a “Mediana” photo. A possible explanation (routine work) that the prosecution must check; it contradicts the director’s statement that they did not clean (P-04).
U Tvrđavi i Čairu ekipe će raditi na čišćenju, košenju i sakupljanju biljnog otpada.
Na bedemu je ostao trag gareži, a očevici kažu da je Tvrđava očišćena u ranim jutarnjim satima.
Asked by Insajder whether there had been a fire, the prosecutor’s office said it had ordered police to establish the facts and qualified the event as a criminal offence.
Događaj je kvalifikovan kao krivično delo izazivanje opšte opasnosti iz čl. 278 Krivičnog zakonika
Beta received no answers, including to whether the organisers notified the Institute for the Protection of Monuments about pyrotechnics at the rally. Citizens commenting: the videos clearly show firefighters putting out the burning ramparts.
Do sada više krivičnih prijava zbog izazivanja opšte opasnosti, ugrožavanja ljudi i imovine, a sada stižu i zahtevi za istragom, jer je prostor na kome je gorelo počišćen pre uviđaja.
Complaint against unknown persons and those responsible for organising the SNS pre-election rally.
Nakon moje prijave policiji da su Naprednjaci zapalili Tvrđavu, malopre sam pozvan po nalogu Tužioca u policijsku upravu u Nišu da dam izjavu povodom slučaja.
The headline of an article disputing the “burned Fortress” itself confirms there was a fire — contradicting the claim that the videos are AI.
Niška Tvrđava nije izgorela: Gorelo suvo rastinje, štete nema
An article titled “Niš Fortress did not burn: false information spreading on social media” confirms both the fire and the firefighters’ intervention.
Tokom okupljanja na prostoru Tvrđave došlo je do požara koji je zahvatio suvo rastinje, ali su vatrogasci brzo reagovali i ugasili vatru.
„Odgovorni su i oni koji su baklje i vatromet palili, oni koji su jutros, pre uviđaja, očistili bedeme i isekli izgorele grane kako bi sakrili dokaze krivičnog dela, oni koji su čišćenje naložili…“
Ova izjava predstavlja do sada najdrskije ruganje istini, zdravom razumu i inteligenciji građana Niša.
Said live on TV Informer (“Kolegijum” show) on the evening of 7 Oct 2026, before 23:51. The clip was posted by Niš TV. According to media transcripts, the speaker claims the photo of the fire is “artificial intelligence” while admitting that flares were lit.
„Mene zovu ovi ljudi, kažu: ’Ajde, molim te, demantuj da gori tvrđava’. Ajde, bre, kažem, ćuti, bre, budalo, ne pričaj gluposti. […] Kaže: ’Evo ti fotografija’. Ja kažem: ’Pa to ti je veštačka inteligencija’“ (N1) · „Ja ću sutra ili prekosutra da zapalim svoje auto na slici i videćete kako gori moj auto“ · „Jesu palili baklje. Ali to nije požar“ (Alo) / „Oni jesu palili baklje na Tvrđavi, ali kakve to veze ima sa požarima?“ (Južne vesti)
According to Južne vesti, “two days after the news” the mayor filmed an Instagram Story “in which he walks past the burned rampart of the Fortress” and said there was no damage. The Story has expired; Južne vesti kept a screenshot. According to Informer (M-01), the same mayor addressed the crowd at the Fortress Bridge on 5 October.
„Istina je da nema štete na Niškoj tvrđavi, a očigledno ih je i zabolelo ovih 8.000 ljudi na ulicama grada Niša sinoć…“ · „Znam da moraju nešto da smisle, poraz boli.“
Niš TV notes this is his “personal, lay assessment” and that the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments will give the final assessment. He describes the opposition and “blockaders” as having “had to make something up”.
„Najvažnije je da niko nije stradao, a čini mi se da nema nikakve materijalne štete“
Parafraza u opisu Niš TV-a: „prema informacijama koje je dobio, sve bilo pod kontrolom i da događaj nije izgledao onako kako su ga, kako tvrdi, blokaderi predstavljali na društvenim mrežama“
„To što gori, ne gori trava – gori njihov procenat. Gori njihov rejting“ · parafraza: požar je „možda namerno izazvan kako bi poslužio za fotografije i objave na društvenim mrežama“
Headline: “People believed Niš Fortress burned” — Vučić showed how he sees a war of fake images. The same article also quotes “They did light flares. But that is not a fire”.
Aleksandar Vučić rekao je na Informer televiziji da se društvenim mrežama širila fotografija koja je trebalo da pokaže da Niška tvrđava gori, ali da je, prema njegovim rečima, slika napravljena pomoću veštačke inteligencije i da stvarnog požara nije bilo.
Published at 14:10 — after the pre-7 a.m. clean-up (P-01) and after the investigation that found soot (P-03). The same Niš TV reported that morning that “Mediana” was working in the Fortress (P-05), and cut its live feed the previous evening (M-04).
„Došla sam da snimim i pošaljem ćerki video da vidi da ništa nije izgorelo u Tvrđavi.“
The “artificial intelligence” remark aired on TV Informer, but it is absent from Informer’s four written reports on the same interview (1158285, 1158323, 1158333, 1158337) — the words “fortress”, “artificial intelligence”, “flares” and “fire” do not appear.