Priče o bici na Košarama 1999. godine, njenim braniocima, poginulim vojnicima i sećanju koje čuvamo na njih. Istražite događaje i lična svedočanstva kroz povezane članke.
12 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 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.
Read articleAt 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.
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