Stories of heroes and personal testimonies
53 articlesTwenty-five years after the battle, the memory of Košare is kept by monuments in Belgrade and Niš, annual commemorations on 9 April, decorations of units and individuals, as well as films and documentaries devoted to the heroes of the border.
Read articleThe defence of Košare was paid for with the lives of 108 members of the Yugoslav Army — officers, conscript soldiers, reservists and volunteers. Their names and their sacrifice form the core of the memory of one of the hardest battles of the defensive war of 1999.
Read articleDuring the 78 days of the NATO aggression in 1999, Serbian air defence, with outdated equipment, put up extraordinary resistance to the most powerful military alliance. They shot down an F-117 stealth aircraft, two F-16s, several unmanned aerial vehicles and dozens of cruise missiles.
Read articleMajor Ljubiša Veličković was the last Serbian pilot killed in the NATO aggression. His MiG-21 was shot down on 1 June 1999, just nine days before the end of the war, over the area around Kraljevo.
Read articleColonel Milenko Pavlović was the commander of the 204th Fighter Aviation Regiment. On 4 May 1999 he took off alone against 16 NATO aircraft to defend his native Valjevo. He was the last Yugoslav pilot to die in the war.
Read articleColonel Milenko Pavlović, commander of the 204th Fighter Aviation Brigade, was killed on 4 May 1999 when his MiG-29 was shot down over Valjevo. He was the most experienced pilot, who flew into combat knowing he could not return.
Read articleMajor Nebojša Nikolić was a Serbian pilot whose MiG-29 was shot down on 2 May 1999. He ejected, survived, but was captured. His story of survival and return became a symbol of a pilot's endurance.
Read articleTibor Cerna, an infantry platoon leader in the 125th Mechanized Brigade, died at the end of April 1999 in the fighting at Košare, in the twenty-first year of his life. He was posthumously decorated with the Order of Merit in the Field of Defence and Security.
Read articleAround Orthodox Easter of 1999, the enemy carried out some of the fiercest attacks on Košare. Those days, remembered as the „Bloody Easter", took many lives of the defenders, but even then the defence did not give way.
Read articleWhen the front had to be stabilised and the lost heights retaken, elite units of the Yugoslav Army were brought to Košare — the 63rd Paratrooper and 72nd Special brigades. For the heroism they showed during the war, both were decorated with the Order of the People's Hero.
Read articleSergeant Ivan Vasojević „Jaguar", a member of the 53rd Border Battalion, died on 11 April 1999 defending a border position at Košare. At just twenty-four years of age, he became one of the most celebrated heroes of the defence of the Fatherland's border.
Read articleThe main reinforcement of the defence of Košare came from the 125th Mechanized Brigade of the Priština Corps. Under the command of General Dragan Živanović, this unit stabilised the front and took on the greatest burden of the prolonged battle.
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