Stories of heroes and personal testimonies
53 articlesAt the Košare border outpost in Metohija near Đakovica, from 9 April to June 1999, the Yugoslav Army fought one of the hardest battles of its defensive war. Facing a superior enemy backed by NATO air power, the Serbian army paid a price of 108 dead — but never surrendered the border into Metohija.
Read articleAt dawn on Orthodox Good Friday, 9 April 1999, the enemy opened artillery fire on the Košare outpost and launched an infantry assault from three directions. On the first day of the battle, a handful of young border guards faced fifteen hundred attackers.
Read articleThe Košare outpost was guarded by the 2nd Border Company of the 53rd Border Battalion of the Priština Corps — a little over a hundred soldiers, mostly young men serving their term. They took the first blow on 9 April 1999 and, with their sacrifice, bought the time for reinforcements to arrive.
Read articleAs commander of the Priština Corps of the Yugoslav Army, Major General Vladimir Lazarević led the defence of Kosovo and Metohija during the NATO aggression of 1999. Under his command were also the units that defended Košare.
Read articleWhen the attack on Košare began on 9 April 1999, Major Dragutin Dimčevski, deputy commander of the 53rd Border Battalion, took direct command of the outpost's defence. With around one hundred and thirty soldiers he organised the resistance in the most critical first hours of the battle.
Read articleOn 31 March 1999, Serbian forces captured three American soldiers — Steven Gonzales, Christopher Stone and Andrew Ramirez — near the Macedonian border. Their capture was one of Serbia's most significant military successes in the 1999 war.
Read articleLieutenant Colonel Slobodan Perić was killed on 27 March 1999 when his MiG-29 was shot down over Kosovo. He was the third Serbian pilot lost in just two days of fighting.
Read articleColonel Zoltán Dani, commander of the 250th Air-Defence Missile Brigade, shot down the American "invisible" aircraft F-117 Nighthawk on 27 March 1999 — the first and only time in history that this aircraft was shot down in combat conditions.
Read articleMajor Zoran Radosavljević was the youngest pilot to fly the MiG-29 fighter in Yugoslavia. On 26 March 1999 he died in aerial combat with NATO aviation. His last words were: "I'm escaping into the clouds."
Read articleColonel Slobodan Perić was flying in a pair with Zoran Radosavljević when both aircraft were shot down on 26 March 1999. Perić successfully ejected and survived the war, but tragically died in a traffic accident in 2010.
Read articleMajor Zoran Radosavljević was the first Serbian pilot killed in the NATO aggression of 1999. His MiG-29 was shot down on 26 March, the second day of the bombing, over Kosovo.
Read articleCaptain Predrag Milutinović was killed on 26 March 1999 in aerial combat over Kosovo. He was one of two pilots lost on the second day of the war, symbolizing the unequal fight of the Serbian air force.
Read article
