YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Ratne priče sa Košara | NATO bombardovanje SFRJ

Ratne priče sa Košara | NATO bombardovanje SFRJ — Transcript

by RTS Merila vremena · 9,960 words · 1,299 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00Dramatization of the events in the film is based on testimonies
0:03of those who participated in the Battle of Kosare.
0:08RTS and Zastava Film present
0:27It was Good Friday. We were fasting.
0:32We set out towards the borderline.
0:37Soldier Dragan Grubic went to get some water.
0:47SLADJANA ZARIC FILM
1:03WAR STORIES FROM KOSARE
1:12They spotted them first and engaged in fighting.
1:22They resorted to tactical deception
1:24yelling "Zaric, bring on the First Battalion!"
1:26or "Second squad forward!"
1:29They managed to confuse the enemy that way.
1:46There must have been two to three hundred of them,
1:50and there were six of us.
2:00Initially they sustained heavy casualties.
2:04We realized that the area was swarming with terrorists.
2:21State border between former Yugoslavia
2:24and the Republic of Albania.
2:29The most rugged terrain along the border.
2:34Mountain range that both Serbs and Albanians
2:36call Cursed Mountains or Prokletije.
2:45Kosare outpost was located on that stretch of state borderline
2:50on Junik Mountain at the altitude of over 2000m,
2:55between Pec and Djakovica.
3:05Frontier sentries have been guarding
3:07this volatile border zone for decades.
3:10Over the years it has been exposed to numerous attacks.
3:12Soldiers have been dying here in the past during the royal rule
3:15and at the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
3:19Conflicts continued during the 1990's as well.
3:21Story of Kosare and the biggest land offensive
3:25on the territory of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
3:28started in 1997.
3:32In 1997 there was an insurgency in the Republic of Albania.
3:38At the time, all the outposts
3:40gravitating towards the territory of Kosovo and Metohija
3:44were pillaged, destroyed and torched.
3:47Close to million and a half shotguns and millions of bullets
3:53ended up in the hands of civilians.
3:58The plan was to transfer those weapons to Kosovo and Metohija.
4:11For the 53rd Border Battalion entire 1998 was a war year.
4:19That year there were over 60 border incidents.
4:24In March of 1998 in the area of Morina outpost
4:27we confiscated a large amount of equipment:
4:31new uniforms, weapons, ammunition…
4:34On April 23, 19918, enemy suffered first losses at Kosare.
4:40We set up an ambush position
4:43at the right place at the right time.
4:51In 1998, frontier sentries at Kosare were flanked by enemy forces.
4:59The outpost is in close vicinity of Junik village
5:03which was a KLA stronghold.
5:07In summer of 1998, this village was visited by Richard Holbrooke,
5:11American special envoy to the Balkans.
5:14He met with the leaders of Shqiptar terrorist forces,
5:17as they were branded at the time by Yugoslav officials.
5:23This meeting was unfolding
5:25against a backdrop of antiterrorist operations
5:28conducted by Serbian army and police forces.
5:3163rd Parachute Brigade took part in one such action
5:34in the vicinity of Junik, in July 1998.
5:38They were sent as reinforcement.
5:44On the 28th, at 6:45am we set out on an assignment.
5:50We were to seize the Bunovac elevation.
5:53A battle group headed by Snake was sent to the location.
6:07Paratroopers encountered a group of KLA fighters in the forest.
6:17Battle group commander Goran Ostojic decided to call retreat
6:24as we were far outnumbered.
6:29We didn't want them cutting off the route to our base.
6:37Paratroopers abandoned the conflict zone
6:39and headed towards the base at Kosare.
6:42They were informed that KLA soldiers
6:44were waiting in ambush by the road.
6:47Goran Ostojic decided
6:49we should approach them from rear and surprise them,
6:55and thus secure the passage to point 502,
7:01a position that is much easier to defend.
7:11When we reached the edge of the forest
7:14there was a ledge there covered in thick fern.
7:18A barrage of bullets ensued.
7:21I saw Goran get shot, he rotated and collapsed.
7:31I managed to activate the hand grenade I had on me,
7:35and I threw it at them.
7:38Janicar headed to our rescue with his team,
7:42but on the way he encountered
7:46the rest of the group that had attacked us.
7:50They were on the run, but they didn't know
7:53our group had split as well, so they ran right into them.
8:04Fellow soldier with the code name Cowboy called out to me.
8:09When I got there I realized Goran was dead.
8:13The rest of the group was there,
8:18so we shifted his body into the Pinzgauer
8:21and we pulled out of there.
8:23But Shqiptars were deployed along the entire road.
8:27We were under fire.
8:31Bullets were flying above the first Pinzgauer,
8:35we opened fire, but when our truck entered the bend,
8:41we were caught in a machine gun burst.
8:48Rados Cerovic who was standing besides me was shot in the head.
8:52Dusanic, who was behind me was shot in the chest,
8:55Ljubisa Bukovic sustained arm and chest injuries…
9:00The truck was on the move,
9:02and when they shot me I fell out.
9:12I fell to the ground.
9:14I jumped off the truck and ran towards him.
9:20The third Pinzgauer was approaching.
9:24We saw a body on the road. He was covered in blood.
9:29We picked him up.
9:31There was nothing I could do as a medic at that point,
9:37we had to get him out of there.
9:40We threw him on top of Goran's dead body
9:43and pulled out.
9:47When we got to the base, we realized
9:51that Dragan Dusanic and Rados Cerovic were dead as well.
10:04Also, two other servicemen were missing:
10:07Srdjan Stanicic and Turtle.
10:16Turtle was in the battle group that stayed at the fire position
10:22to gather equipment.
10:24He didn't hear the second commander issue a command
10:28to board the truck and he was left behind.
10:33No one even noticed he was missing.
10:37He remained there for two days without any food or water.
10:41Shqiptar extremists were passing by, twenty to thirty of them.
10:48As he said, at one point,
10:53a Shqiptar was standing just five meters away.
10:57On the third day he decided to head towards the base.
11:04He was going in circles for a while.
11:10It was easy for him to find water
11:12because there were lots of springs around.
11:16He survived on wild strawberries.
11:19At one point he reached an elevation
11:22and from there he could see our outpost.
11:27All of a sudden everyone started yelling, rejoicing.
11:32I got out of my tent and I saw Touche Turtle.
11:39We then celebrated his return.
11:43After the hard moments we experienced,
11:46it was a great relief for us.
11:54We assume that when the vehicle stopped,
11:57Stancetic jumped out thinking his help might be needed.
12:07On the other side of the road there was a steep slope.
12:11As it was already dark, it is possible that he slipped.
12:18Later, when we were combing the terrain,
12:22we found his body some 30m below the road.
12:26It was riddled with bullets.
12:31The hardest day for me was July 28, 1998.
12:39We lost four paratroopers in a short period of time.
12:48They were my friends. That was the worst day for me.
12:58Goran Ostojic was a paragon, tall, striking, fearless…
13:05He was always in the frontlines, paratroopers trusted him.
13:11It was a major loss for us.
13:16This photograph is considered the symbol of the Battle of Kosare.
13:20Those are the members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade
13:24who took part in the action
13:25lead by lieutenant colonel Goran Ostojic.
13:29After a large-scale operation
13:31conducted by our army and police forces in summer of 1998,
13:34there were no more KLA soldiers in Junik.
13:38International peacekeeping monitoring mission
13:41that was monitoring the border at the time
13:44banned the presence of special forces in the area.
13:46Only border units of Yugoslav Army
13:49were allowed in the crisis area.
13:51In September 1998, the frontier sentries got reinforcement.
13:55The support came in the form of Nis Reconnaissance Company.
13:58Reconnaissance Company arrived on September 29.
14:01When they arrived I was on my way to point 502
14:09to set up an ambush position.
14:15Two soldiers ran up to me. They were from Belgrade.
14:21They wanted to know what the situation was like,
14:25whether it had settled down.
14:27I told them that the shooting had subsided,
14:30that they were going to be fine.
14:32It's nice here. The food is good.
14:36I've made friends already.
14:43No, I haven't.
14:48I went to the ambush position. It was early morning.
14:56I heard two detonations in the distance.
15:01We took hand grenades, ammunition, automatic rifles,
15:08and we headed out.
15:25We approached the Pinzgauer.
15:30We saw bodies tangled in the back of it.
15:33They didn't even have time to jump out.
15:38I recognized the two fellows who approached me
15:42as I was heading for the ambush position 502.
15:46I remembered how I told them
15:49that the situation had settled down.
15:54That the winter was coming
15:56and that I wasn't expecting any more skirmishes.
16:00At that moment I felt bad. I was sad, distraught, angry.
16:13One body was on the ground to the right,
16:18the other one was to the left.
16:20The driver pretended he was dead and that is how he survived.
16:29Officer Goran Loznica, sergeant major Dobrislav Drazic,
16:32and Goran Simic, the driver survived the terrorist attac.
16:39Although gravely wounded
16:41captain Loznica managed to reach the nearby brook.
16:44Later he admitted that he had suicidal thoughts at the time.
16:54Captain Loznica was wounded. He fell off the vehicle
16:58and rolled down a slope that was covered in fern.
17:02Luckily, my dog found him.
17:04Otherwise, he would have bled to death.
17:07Sergeant major Drazic was also there.
17:09He was critically wounded, but he survived.
17:11Unfortunately, others had lost their lives.
17:28Among those who died
17:30were soldiers of the Nis Reconnaissance Company:
17:32Vladimir Radoicic, Ilija Pavlovic and Miladin Gobeljic.
17:37They enlisted just three months earlier.
17:41On that day, KLA soldiers also killed
17:45enlistees Miroslav Jocic and Milos Pavlovic.
17:50After the war, a video appeared on the net.
17:59Agim Ramadani was the leader of the group
18:03that had set up an ambush on September 30, 1998.
18:08They were filming as they waited in ambush from the early morning.
18:16They conducted a terrorist attack on the vehicle
18:21and killed the soldiers.
18:24Then they took their equipment, looted their personal belongings,
18:31desecrated their bodies.
18:36After year 2000, members of the Phoenix-Cobra group
18:39were sentenced in absence by the court in Nis.
18:43They were convicted of conducting a classical terrorist act.
18:47The group infiltrated the territory of Yugoslavia from Albania.
18:50In the immediate vicinity of the state border,
18:53two kilometers away from the Kosare outpost,
18:55they killed five Yugoslav Army soldiers.
18:58Several months later, many of these terrorists
19:01were in the first combat lines,
19:04when a ground offensive from Albania was launched
19:07and the attack on Kosare began.
19:20In the early hours of the morning a large group of KLA soldiers
19:22launched an attack on the Kosare outpost
19:25following a massive artillery barrage
19:28aimed at the nearby Morina outpost.
19:31Soldiers entrenched at the C4 ambush position
19:35were on their way to the spring
19:37when they spotted an Albanian soldier with a Motorola.
19:41That was the beginning of the battle of Kosare.
19:49We were most fortunate that those soldiers went to get the water.
19:53They discovered enemy soldiers
19:56before they were able to close in on us.
20:00We were surrounded on three sides.
20:03They would've probably encircled us was it not for those soldiers.
20:13Shqiptars were also attacking Rrasa e Koshares summit
20:17towering over the Kosare outpost area.
20:20On that April the 9th, the summit was covered in snow.
20:27Rrasa e Koshares is the highest point
20:30and from it you could monitor the entire stretch of the border.
20:36From that point they could provide support
20:40to troops at point C4, at Glava or any other position.
20:49Their objective was to seize that point.
20:53Once you are there, you are in control of the entire area.
21:05First they attacked ambush position C4.
21:11Somewhere around 5:15am Grubic asked for support.
21:16We were at the Rrasa e Koshares summit
21:19and we delivered mortar fire.
21:23As soon as fired the first mine, in a matter of seconds
21:27we were under heavy artillery fire
21:31from the depth of Albanian territory.
21:40The earth was shaking, stones were flying around.
21:43I was counting the mines, almost hundred of them fell on us.
21:54They were yelling "Surrender!"
21:58"Soldiers, surrender! We will spare your lives!"
22:06It sounded strange.
22:09They were suggesting we surrender in our own language.
22:14I suggested to a fellow soldier that we withdraw from there
22:17so they don't capture us alive.
22:19Following a massive fire attack,
22:21enemy managed to take the Rrasa e Koshares position.
22:25There was also fierce fighting
22:27over the ambush position Kolibice, in Glava area.
22:30This position was located above the outpost, near the border.
22:37At one point the enemy fire got so intense
22:40that I thought there were at least hundred of them.
22:44Bullets were flying over our heads.
22:48Luckily, we had already prepared adequate shelters,
22:52we had already dug up gun pits.
22:55Situation at Kolibice was almost surreal.
22:59They were blasting our position with mortar fire.
23:05There were ten to twelve of our soldiers there
23:08lead by corporal Sarac.
23:10Just when we thought they were wiped out,
23:13someone would fire from the trench,
23:15a soldier would raise his head and fire at the enemy.
23:22They were holding off a large group of Albanian terrorists,
23:25not allowing them to approach the outpost.
23:29That way they were buying us time.
23:32The intensity of fighting didn't subside during the day.
23:36Fighting was intense on Maja Glava,
23:38Kolibice, near the outpost...
23:41Defense efforts were hindered by unfavorable weather conditions.
23:44Snow covered the summits,
23:47but around the outpost there was no snow that April.
23:50The reinforcement finally arrived - 30 military policemen.
23:54Commander of the 53rd Border Battalion
23:56headed off in his Pinzgauer to meet the military policemen.
24:05I told the driver to drive faster so we wouldn't be late,
24:10but he told me the vehicle would overturn.
24:13At one point, as we entered a curve, they opened fire.
24:17I turned towards the driver,
24:19but we didn't get to exchange a single world,
24:22he was shot by a sniper bullet.
24:26Terrorists were surprised when they saw me leave the vehicle
24:30because they thought no one had survived the attack.
24:36Driver Miroslav Stojanovic, a 21-year-old serviceman,
24:41was the first victim of the attack on Kosare.
24:45He was a member of the 53rd Border Battalion.
24:50Several hours later three armored fighting vehicles, three BOVs
24:55were coming down the same road.
24:58They were supposed to bring ammunition to Kosare outpost.
25:03I was in the second BOV with the sublieutenant.
25:08At the last bend before Batusa, we encountered the Pinzgauer
25:13that belonged to commander Sljivancanin.
25:15We didn't know he was wounded. The driver was dead.
25:19First BOV pushed away the Pinzgauer
25:22and continued towards Batusa village.
25:27As it entered the bend,
25:30the second armored vehicle hit the mine.
25:36Sublieutenant, another soldier and I were in the second vehicle.
25:41Then it exploded.
25:43I blacked out and I can't remember
25:47what transpired in the next 15 minutes.
25:50The third armored vehicle came by and picked up the sublieutenant.
25:54I was waving at them, but they passed me by.
25:56I was left alone.
25:58Later, our soldiers found wounded Dejan Agocevic,
26:01Kosare outpost commander.
26:07Soldier Nikola Popovic from the 52nd Artillery Brigade
26:11was killed in the BOV that exploded.
26:15In the months that followed KLA members
26:19photographed themselves next to the overturned BOV.
26:22They were celebrating the terrorist act they had committed.
26:27But let's return to the events of April the 9th
26:30at the ambush position C4 where frontier sentries
26:34had accidentally discovered terrorist forces
26:37before they were able to surround them.
26:41At the Maja Glava elevation
26:43fighting has been going on since the early morning.
26:51Call the outpost, we are out of ammunition!
26:57We were checking out the stacks of ammunition,
27:00and we asked for support in men and ammunition.
27:09Pull-out!
27:12We were waiting for quite a while,
27:15and since we ran out of ammunition
27:17we decided to withdraw.
27:28We ran out of mortar ammunition and then major ordered me
27:31to assemble all the soldiers who were there
27:34and take them to the C4 border marker
27:38held by sergeant Vasovic and his team.
27:41We went to point C4, but the soldiers were no longer there.
27:45We positioned ourselves
27:48and waited to see how the situation would develop.
27:59We set out towards the outpost
28:02but we didn't know they were under the attack.
28:06Lines of communication were down
28:10and they were shooting at us from all sides.
28:15They wanted to surprise us and make a break through.
28:21Their objective was to reach Batusa
28:24and other villages along that line.
28:28By annihilating our troops in that area they were hoping
28:32to cut off the communication route Decane-Pec
28:37and join forces with Ramus Haradinaj's troops.
28:41That way they would create ideal circumstances for airstrikes
28:45and artillery engagement on the stretch of land
28:49between Junik Polje and Milanovac Mountain.
28:53Why was it so important to them?
28:55From the border,
28:57Junik Polje can be reached on foot in just two to four hours,
29:02carrying full gear.
29:04From March 24th when the state of war was declared
29:07till April 9th when they launched the land offensive,
29:11we had no major skirmishes,
29:13there were no problems on the border itself.
29:16As a matter of fact,
29:18just a couple of days prior to the insurgency,
29:20Jevtovic and I, and a few other soldiers
29:24crossed the stretch of border
29:27between Kosare outpost and Junik on foot.
29:30We were on the lookout for any traces in snow.
29:33But we found nothing suspicious, there were no signs of scouts.
29:36He himself said that Pristina Corps' assessment was
29:40that we were not in imminent danger of attack.
29:43In the unlikely event, he said,
29:44they would send reinforcements as planned.
29:47The task of frontier sentries was to hold off the first attack,
29:50until reinforcements arrive within an hour or two.
29:53There were no indications to suggest
29:55the attack would be launched at Kosare outpost.
29:57There were some speculations they would attack
29:59from the territory of Macedonia, or at Morina outpost.
30:01Morina outpost was passable, but not only from their side,
30:05it was passable from our side as well
30:08making it easier for us to defend ourselves.
30:10However, at Kosare, their side was elevated.
30:15They were in a superior position all along the border in that area.
30:20They were in a position to dictate the time
30:23and the pace of the attack, the direction…
30:28Judging by the way they were grouping and communicating,
30:32we concluded they were preparing for a blitzkrieg
30:37in a matter of days.
30:40However, on the first day, and especially on the second day,
30:45and later on, they encountered strong resistance.
30:48That created problems in their midst.
30:52They were not capable of advancing,
30:56and they couldn't retreat either.
31:11It was a cool and quiet morning, eerily quiet.
31:18It was almost ominous.
31:24Somewhere around noon a horrific attack ensued,
31:29first at the Glava outpost and then at point C4.
31:38Every minute felt like a year. We didn't know what had hit us.
31:44They were firing from mortars, recoilless guns, rifles…
32:07At one point you realize
32:09that the ammunition chest you have refilled is almost empty.
32:17Lieutenant colonel Dimcevski and I, and 15 of our soldiers
32:21found ourselves surrounded on three sides.
32:24Point C4 was taken, enemy troops flanked us from the left,
32:28and to the right was Rrasa e Koshares
32:31which had fallen the very first day.
32:34From their elevated position snipers could easily target us.
32:37Luckily, snipers at Rrasa e Koshares
32:39were hindered by poor visibility.
32:42A mist had descended at that time.
32:45But sometime around 6pm they started firing at us
32:48from all directions, from Rrasa e Koshares, from C4,
32:50and from the territory of Albania.
32:53We were the only ones there, so I ordered a running flight.
33:12The attack was so fierce
33:15that I thought no one would survive such fire.
33:19I was in Batusa village
33:21and I told them to send reinforcement right away.
33:25One soldier told me they were attacking them in swarms,
33:31there were thousands of them.
33:33By our estimate, some 1500 men attacked
33:36along the 5km stretch of frontline.
33:40They were marshalling in such a fashion
33:43that their main effort focused on the outpost
33:47and the area to the left of the outpost towards Maja Glava.
33:52With the auxiliary forces
33:55they were going to attack Rrasa e Koshares.
33:57Our forces included 115 frontier sentries
34:05and 8 to 10 soldiers with 82mm mortars.
34:10With the commanding staff, it was 130 men in total.
34:15When I served as a young frontier sentry,
34:18I was told that it is fear that protects the border.
34:22They didn't know how many of us were there
34:24and where we were located.
34:27Also, the intensity of fire from our side
34:29at the time of attack had diverted them.
34:33With what they had, they could have crushed us.
34:36On the 9th and the 10th of April
34:38frontier sentries at the first line of defense
34:40were backed up by the members of the 125th Motorized Brigade
34:44who were guarding the border from the background.
34:48The problem was their manning level.
34:52125th Brigade had a large area of responsibility,
34:57like all the other brigades.
34:59In the days preceding these events
35:02they were fighting terrorist forces
35:03in the wider area of Jablanica, Pec,
35:06and in the direction of Gorazdevac and Klina.
35:09It took some time for them to get there and entrench
35:13because of relentless airstrikes.
35:17That is why it was only on the third day
35:21that we were able to introduce fresh troops
35:24from the Second Motorized Battalion
35:27to the wider Kosare area.
35:36KLA forces have penetrated the border
35:39and were now holding some of our ambush positions.
35:41At Maja Glava insurgents were holding positions
35:44100 to 200 meters into the Yugoslav territory.
35:47When they seized Rrasa e Koshares
35:49they were in control of 1.5 km of the territory.
35:52Their forces also seized the Kosare outpost
35:55which was indefensible due to its unfavorable position.
36:04International media reported about the fall of Kosare,
36:08the outpost located 200 meters from the borderline.
36:12KLA soldiers who attacked the territory of Yugoslavia
36:16from the direction of Albania in early April,
36:18withdrew from Kosovo to terrorist camps in Albania
36:22during 1998 or early 1999.
36:28There they went through comprehensive combat training.
36:31Here, we see those same KLA soldiers
36:34taking the equipment frontier sentries had left behind.
36:38In the meantime,
36:40frontier sentries were occupying alternate positions
36:43on Opljaz Hill, at the foot of Mt. Rrasa e Koshares.
36:47I set off with a battle group to occupy a position.
36:52There we encountered Vasojevic and Kovacevic.
36:59As soon as we arrived,
37:02someone opened fire from a short distance away.
37:11Men who attacked us were wearing our uniforms.
37:19They tricked us. Our fighters stood up and they shot at them.
37:35Vasojevic died there.
37:39He fought bravely at C4 inflicting heavy casualties.
37:43Soldier Darko Bjelobrk stood up
37:47and started yelling "Don't shoot!"
37:52But he was shot down by a machine-gun burst.
37:56Among the soldiers who died that day were frontier sentries
38:00Predrag Bogosavljevic and Milenko Bozic.
38:04Frontier sentries suffered most losses that day.
38:12I saw my soldier crying. I asked him what was the matter,
38:17and he told me that he had seen them.
38:21"How did you see them?" I enquired.
38:23I saw them half an hour ago.
38:26He didn't tell anyone because they were wearing our uniforms.
38:30They were behind us so he didn't suspect anything.
38:33I am the one who saw them last.
38:38I spent the entire night with them
38:40and in the morning sergeant Vasojevic was killed.
38:43That was the hardest moment for me.
39:12On April 11,
39:14fighting was also going on at the foothills of Junik Mountain.
39:18On the Skoza slope that descends from Morina outpost,
39:22members of the 125th Motorized Brigade
39:25encountered a group of KLA soldiers
39:27who have crossed the border
39:29and penetrated deep into the territory of Yugoslavia.
39:35Captain Ralevic and I flanked them and attacked.
39:42Captain supported us with mortar fire.
39:48We annihilated that terrorist group.
39:51When we approached their trenches
39:54we noticed there was lots of blood there,
39:59there were also parts of people's scalps left behind,
40:03lots of equipment, ammunition.
40:07They were obviously well prepared,
40:10and we didn't expect that.
40:12We surprised them.
40:16On April 11, Agim Ramadani was killed.
40:19He was the commander of KLA 138th Brigade.
40:22According to Albanian sources, he was killed by a mortar shell
40:25in the vicinity of Kosare outpost.
40:28Agim Ramadani lead the terrorist attack on Kosare
40:32in September 1998,
40:34when five Yugoslav Army soldiers were killed.
40:55Further advance of KLA soldiers was halted.
41:00Yugoslav army launched a counter-offensive
41:02to reclaim the occupied parts of its territory.
41:06A group of soldiers was heading
41:08from Morina outpost towards Kosare.
41:12Mobile platoon of the 53rd Border Battalion
41:14received an order
41:15to recover the C 4 border marker, ambush position Maja Glava.
41:22Leovac suggested to the Battle Group commander Kotur
41:29to deploy experienced volunteers instead of the RA soldiers
41:36of the 53rd Border Battalion Mobile platoon.
41:42He thought that people with some experience in battle
41:45should be sent to that position
41:47instead of the inexperienced young soldiers.
41:55Some 300 meters away from the C 4 border marker
42:00I spotted two Shqiptars and alerted Leovac.
42:13He remained at his position and I heard him fire a shot.
42:22At the same time, I heard a shot
42:25coming from the direction where the Shqiptars were.
42:29His head collapsed at that moment.
42:34I said "Give me your hand!" He said he couldn't.
42:38He couldn't move.
42:44Shqiptars opened heavy fire.
42:49When we set out on that assignment
42:52we were told by the intelligence staff
42:56that we could expect twenty to thirty Shqiptars up there.
43:02However, at that point,
43:05there were at least 200 to 250 of them.
43:13Four men took the stretcher and headed towards
43:17the Morina outpost that was 2.5km away.
43:27We were running, trying to save him,
43:31to save the life of an officer who was a real hero.
43:36He took the volunteers with him to spare active forces.
43:45We were informed that they weren't able to save Leovac,
43:53that he had died.
43:57It was a great loss for me, and especially for our troops.
44:04It was a heroic deed by sublieutenant Leovac.
44:09That young man was an example to others.
44:13I have to say that prior to that assignment
44:16he was wounded by a mine and was still spared duty.
44:22But when the aggression started he returned to his unit
44:30although his wounds hadn't healed properly.
44:44Yugoslav Army started attacking from all directions.
44:47On April 14, they attacked Rrasa e Koshares.
44:50Members of the 125th Brigade set off
44:53to reclaim this strategically significant ambush position.
44:58I fell into the snow.
45:00It was so high that it reached my chest.
45:04As I was getting out of there I noticed some tracks.
45:09I warned the captain and the others.
45:13As we came closer,
45:15we spotted a Browning machine gun pointed in our direction.
45:18Fortunately, there was no one by the machine gun.
45:22Two sentries were standing close by and talking.
45:26They were not expecting us.
45:31Our people opened fire and neutralized them.
45:37They regrouped quickly and opened fire at us.
45:43Soon, they were delivering mortar fire as well.
45:48We were caught in crossfire.
45:51At one point captain Krunoslav Ivankovic
45:54suggested we make a move and help our men who were wounded.
46:05Negic took the mortar…
46:17In the meantime Vojvodic was shot.
46:21Unfortunately, he was the first casualty.
46:27I followed Negic uphill and then I heard a loud shot.
46:32Negic cringed and said "I am finished, bro."
46:37Captain probably wanted to use the opportunity
46:41to approach Branislav Negic and get him out of there.
46:44At that moment captain was shot in the stomach.
46:52I ran up to him and asked him how he was.
46:56He said he was finished and gave me the field radio
47:01and a little bag with the documents.
47:03He asked me to tell his daughters
47:06that their father had died defending the homeland.
47:14I couldn't get to soldier Negic because of the heavy fire.
47:20He was on the front ridge which made it harder.
47:31Body of Branislav Negic was never found.
47:37We don't know where it is.
47:41Soldiers Branislav Negic and Danilo Vojvodic
47:45died in battle that day,
47:47and so did the Yugoslav Army officer Krunoslav Ivankovic.
47:56Yugoslav Army was now attacking KLA terrorist positions on a daily basis.
48:02125th Motorized Brigade was advancing towards Maja Glava,
48:05the C 4 border marker.
48:10It wasn't easy recovering taken positions.
48:13Enemy had seized the positions that were overlooking ours.
48:23In Kosare area there is a battle going on…
48:26Down!
48:30Just 200m away.
48:33They spotted us and soon we were subjected to mortar fire.
48:40Volunteer Josip Sich from Subotica was in front of me.
48:47At one point he twitched and fell down.
48:51We were calling his name, but he didn't reply.
48:55His body twitched on the ground several times
48:58and then he became motionless.
49:08I had an icon of the Mother of God with me.
49:12I took it out and venerated it.
49:15I was grateful that my life was spared.
49:21It might have been me.
49:24Josip was in the front and in a way he died for me.
49:30In the first place we were looking after each other,
49:33and then after the country.
49:45Josip's body remained there.
49:48There are some videos of him on YouTube
49:50posted by the Albanians.
49:52Several other men were left there.
49:55Several volunteers were making headway,
50:02terrain in front of them was clear.
50:05They didn't realize they had crossed the border line.
50:14They didn't get lost, they were just advancing.
50:18At one point they stopped and enemy troops surrounded them.
50:24Some of them managed to bail out, but three of them didn't.
50:29We didn't know what had happened to them.
50:32Later we found out that they were dead.
50:34One soldier from Zablace village near Cacak…
50:41His name is Predrag Bojovic.
50:47He was crying out for help as he was seriously wounded.
50:52We could hear his cries clearly.
50:57I have to say I still hear them from time to time.
51:06Several of our volunteers went down to help him,
51:12to dress his wounds,
51:15but the bleeding was too profuse and he died.
51:22When the volunteers returned, I first inquired about Bojovic.
51:27They told me that he had died
51:32and that they had to leave him there when pulling out.
51:36I sent men to find his body, but they couldn't find him.
51:42I have unofficial information that six of those soldiers
51:48whose bodies are missing
51:50are in a mass grave somewhere in Albania.
52:01I remember that day clearly. The weather was awful.
52:05Soon after the action was launched a thick fog descended
52:09creating mayor problems for us.
52:14That day I lost a few friends.
52:18They were not killed,
52:20but captured alive because of the fog.
52:24They got lost in the forest and fell into enemy hands.
52:31April the 16th was a difficult day for the 125th Motorized Brigade.
52:37On that day, eleven soldiers and volunteers were killed,
52:42and four are missing in action.
52:45Posthumous remains of soldiers Dejan Kostic and Dejan Mitic
52:49were exhumed after year 2000.
52:52Bodies of Zlatko Acic and Sasa Ivankovic,
52:56who disappeared on April 16, were never found.
53:09Special Forces, the elite units of Yugoslav Army arrived at Kosare.
53:14Some 1,500 members of the Yugoslav army were now at Kosare.
53:19The sixty-third parachute brigade was assigned the task
53:23of seizing the C4 border marker, that is, Maja Glava.
53:29We were marching 14km
53:31carrying the equipment weighing some 50-60kg each.
53:37We spread out in line, everyone knew their position.
53:49Element of surprise played a key role.
53:53We practically ran into them.
53:59People were yelling, bullets were flying by…
54:03It seemed to me that the crossfire had lasted for hours.
54:08We didn't know who was shooting from which side.
54:10There was our artillery support, their mortars,
54:13and the familiar sound of Chinese rifles.
54:17They were shelling our first line intensively with grenades.
54:26It was clear to our commanders, and it was clear to me
54:30that it wasn't Shqiptars who were shelling us.
54:33Only experienced professional soldiers
54:35were capable of something like that.
54:37It's a well known fact that they had mercenaries among them
54:39including Croatians.
54:41I saw them running by,
54:43we were discussing our plan of action,
54:46and instinctively, I turned to the left.
54:51I spotted a large yellow circle with a black dot inside.
54:58Next moment I felt a strong sharp pain,
55:04and I fell on my knees.
55:15His left eye was full of sanies. He was delirious.
55:22It was obviously a shock trauma.
55:27I put my hand under his left armpit
55:32and I realized there was an open wound there of at least 20cm.
55:39I dressed the wound and when I got up
55:45to put on my backpack on, I was shot.
55:53When I looked at the sky, it seemed like it was on fire.
55:59Bullets were flying in all directions, bouncing.
56:05I was still conscious
56:08and I realized we were in a hopeless situation.
56:12I told the man who was second in-command
56:18that our only option was to withdraw.
56:26Paratroopers lost their chief of staff at Kosare in 1998.
56:32They didn't want that to happen again.
56:34Under heavy enemy fire,
56:37they managed to pull out their seriously wounded commander.
56:41On April 19th, members of the 72nd Special Brigade
56:44together with the soldiers of the Military Police Battalion
56:48set out to reclaim the seized territory.
56:51KLA forces were slowly withdrawing.
56:54The front line moved forward several hundred meters.
56:59A great battle fought by the 72nd Special Brigade
57:03occurred in the beech forest on the slopes of Rrasa e Koshares.
57:07There was a protruding rock on the slope.
57:09Enemy troops had flanked the Special Brigade unit
57:12determined to surround them.
57:16Reinforcements for the Special Brigade arrived.
57:22We were approaching our men and reinforcing their positions.
57:32That is when I heard that Tomislav Kostic,
57:36Zoran and Miroslav had died in action.
57:46Four members of the 72nd Special Brigade died that day:
57:50Zoran Filipovic, Miroslav Marinkov,
57:53Tomislav Kostic and Zoran Milojevic.
57:59They told me that Kostic was shot in the chest,
58:05and Zoran and Miroslav were shot in the head, probably by a sniper.
58:17In a clash with special forces enemy suffered heavy losses.
58:21On that day, KLA 138th Brigade lost another commander.
58:28Albanian media reported that commander Salji Ceku
58:32was killed at Rrasa e Koshares on April 19.
58:38That day terrorist forces were also targeted
58:42by our howitzers from the area of Batusa village.
58:58The Battle of Kosare could also be called the battle or mortars.
59:03It was this weapon that caused most casualties on both sides.
59:11On the average, I was throwing 1200 to 1400 mines a day.
59:17In total,
59:19I fired somewhere between 40 and 45 thousand mines.
59:26We were providing support to the troops on the first line,
59:29whether it was the First or the Second Squad.
59:31I was on the watch 24/7,
59:36prepared to provide support when needed.
59:43From the 16th to the 20th the front line had stabilized.
59:48It was the second part of the Battle of Kosare.
59:56The first part ended on the second day
59:59when sentries stabilized the front on alternate positions.
1:00:05On April 20th the area of Rrasa e Koshares was stabilized.
1:00:17On the line of advance we defined as Kosare,
1:00:24although it is a much wider area,
1:00:27officially two Shqiptar terrorist brigades were attacking.
1:00:32Those were the 131st and 138th KLA brigades.
1:00:38In total some 1500 to 2000 men.
1:00:43Forces that were in the battle range were taking turns.
1:00:48Their grouping varied.
1:00:50There were parts of the Albanian Army 2nd Infantry Division,
1:00:55NATO special forces units including SAS special forces,
1:01:00American Green Berets, and others.
1:01:04French artillerymen were also creating major problems for us.
1:01:09So, in total, some 1500 men were operationally engaged
1:01:13in the wider Kosare area.
1:01:24If we exclude the aviation, force ratio was 1:1.
1:01:38The front line at Kosare was stabilized.
1:01:41Soldiers of the 125th Brigade
1:01:44were approaching Rrasa e Koshares position
1:01:47that was taken by the members of the 72nd Brigade.
1:01:50That part of the mountain was covered in snow
1:01:53even in late April.
1:01:55In the coming days the famous rock at Rrasa e Koshares
1:01:59became the death trap for many Yugoslav Army soldiers.
1:02:04I had a machine-gun
1:02:07and Stanoje Jovanovic and I were told
1:02:09to take the position by the rock, on the right flank,
1:02:14because my weapon was more powerful,
1:02:16so I could shoot from there.
1:02:20The rock was important because it was on the right flank
1:02:26and was our last protection point.
1:02:32Stanoje noticed a Shqiptar moving across the meadow in front of us.
1:02:40He moved towards a little platform to the left
1:02:44and took aim at him.
1:02:52As he was walking towards me I said "Stanoje, get down!"
1:02:59"No one's going to shoot," he said.
1:03:01I warned him again,
1:03:02but his body turned at that moment and he fell to the ground.
1:03:05He yelled "Help, I've been shot!"
1:03:09Stanoje was 19 or 20 years old.
1:03:15He was born in 1978 in a village near Pozarevac.
1:03:29The second day they intensified mortar fire.
1:03:38A grenade fell ten to fifteen meters away from us.
1:03:44He fell over me and I felt this awful pain in my chest.
1:04:06Next to him was Bogojevic.
1:04:09I was tearing the uniform in order to see where he was shot,
1:04:13but there was no blood.
1:04:26I was holding him in my arms
1:04:28and I didn't know how to help him.
1:04:32At one point he wasn't reacting at all.
1:04:36I thought he was kidding,
1:04:39I even slapped him in the face saying "Get up!"
1:04:43I couldn't accept the fact that he was gone.
1:04:49Soldier Bojan Bogojevic died as a result of a detonation.
1:04:55It was the same explosive device that injured me
1:04:59and another two soldiers.
1:05:02He died instantly.
1:05:08The second day I was alone by the rock.
1:05:14Stanoje was dead. I haven't slept for three days.
1:05:20The fourth day I couldn't hold my head up.
1:05:25I lay down into the snow, covered myself
1:05:28with the ground sheet over my head and fell asleep.
1:05:33After a while I woke up and I heard voices.
1:05:41I removed the sheet and got up. The two of them were in shock.
1:05:47"What's the matter?" I asked.
1:05:49They said they thought I was dead.
1:05:53"Why would you think that?" I enquired.
1:05:55"Look at the snow around you" they said. It was black.
1:06:01I asked what had happened and they said
1:06:03it was the fiercest mortar attack so far.
1:06:08And I slept right through it.
1:06:16After seven days on the mountain I got frostbites.
1:06:22When the shooting stopped,
1:06:26I took off my boots and started massaging my feet.
1:06:29As soon as I took them off,
1:06:31I had this awful burning sensation.
1:06:34I could no longer put my boots on. My feet were purple.
1:06:45They attacked again.
1:06:48They were shelling my position with a mortar.
1:06:52The fourth mine fell right onto the rock.
1:06:55My entire life was fleshing before my eyes.
1:07:00I thought the fifth one would be fatal for me
1:07:04because they were getting closer and closer.
1:07:08But then again, shooting stopped as if someone had intervened.
1:07:12Volunteers arrived at the position by the rock
1:07:15in order to replace young soldiers
1:07:17who have been fighting in the first line of fire for days.
1:07:23Volunteers came to replace me.
1:07:26I told them to refrain from long fire,
1:07:30to shoot in short bursts.
1:07:33I told them that as soon as I'd start firing in long bursts,
1:07:36they would throw a mine.
1:07:39But when they transferred me to the base, I heard
1:07:43that the three volunteers by the rock were hit by a mortar.
1:07:46The fifth mine killed them.
1:08:00Mortar bomb killed Vladimir Nestorovic, Dragan Petkovic,
1:08:06Zoran Stajic and Novica Stankovic.
1:08:11We were some 500 to 600 meters away from the first line of fire.
1:08:17After two days they sent volunteers to replace us.
1:08:21Cerna's position was by that rock.
1:08:25He got really mad.
1:08:29The bastards killed them!
1:08:34He wanted to help the volunteers,
1:08:37to take that position
1:08:39because he thought he was in charge of the rock.
1:08:45He wanted to reclaim that position and prevent Shqiptars
1:08:48from penetrating deeper into our territory.
1:09:01Cerna Tibor was the squad leader.
1:09:03He was a positive person, good at boosting the morale.
1:09:09He was always sprightly, a really good man.
1:09:22It is not a good feeling, having to take a position
1:09:25and pull out the dead bodies of your fellow soldiers.
1:09:30But that is your assignment and you have to take it in stride.
1:09:35You can't just decide you don't want to be there anymore.
1:09:38You can just say "I don't want to play anymore".
1:09:41You friends are there,
1:09:43the ones that are alive and the ones who died.
1:09:46Life goes on, at least for a while.
1:09:49No one was afraid of death there.
1:09:52We knew it was the war. We were not afraid.
1:09:59That was our job.
1:10:03We were doing our job, defending our homeland.
1:10:07It wasn't easy at first,
1:10:10seeing someone dead, his leg torn off by the grenade,
1:10:15or someone without his arm, or a decapitated body.
1:10:18But eventually you get used to it.
1:10:25Had we not been determined,
1:10:32was it not for the sense of solidarity among us,
1:10:39things could've taken a different turn.
1:10:42When you tell people about it, they don't believe you.
1:10:45My family though I had gone bonkers.
1:10:50It wasn't fear. What bothered us was the uncertainty.
1:10:56Once you got into the thick of it,
1:10:58things would just take their own course.
1:11:02The worst thing was the uncertainty,
1:11:04knowing that something was bound to happen
1:11:07but not knowing when.
1:11:15We would test the sniper the way it's done in the movies.
1:11:18We would put the helmet on a tree branch
1:11:22and he would start shooting right away.
1:11:25He was annihilated on the 14th day.
1:11:28To the left of Rrasa e Koshares, from the direction of point 601…
1:11:33I have a friend from Zvornik, but I doubt he'd talk about it.
1:11:38He still keeps watch… I'll tell you the way it was.
1:11:44Enemy soldier kept shouting "Chetnik!",
1:11:48referring to us as Chetniks.
1:11:50We could see the enemy side. I remember vividly.
1:11:54He was wearing glasses and he was almost bald.
1:11:57He was provoking us.
1:12:01Our sniper said "Wait till I find him".
1:12:04It was a matter of seconds. He had a steady hand.
1:12:12He was an exceptional marksman. We never heard "Chetnik" again.
1:12:20They had Chinese rifles, they couldn't shoot in bursts,
1:12:23just in single shots.
1:12:26Those were automatic rifles, just like ours.
1:12:29They sounded like chatter.
1:12:31We would make fun of them mimicking the sound.
1:12:37We would go like this…
1:12:41In the early morning Radic gave me a call.
1:12:44He thought we could attack their machine-gun nest
1:12:48that was at the end of their holding line.
1:12:59Bullets were flying around us, but luckily no one was shot,
1:13:03no one was injured.
1:13:08We approached him from behind. He was in shock.
1:13:17The way he looked at us…
1:13:20I don't know whether it was fear or hatred.
1:13:27We then returned to our positions with the machine-guns.
1:13:48After a while, I am not sure how many days we stayed there,
1:13:52we were taken to the base for a day or two.
1:13:59Guys from Pec came to replace us,
1:14:03and afterwards we were deployed to the left flank.
1:14:07A soldier from Valjevo was crying.
1:14:10He said he couldn't take it anymore,
1:14:13that there were too many Shqiptars around,
1:14:15that he could hear them.
1:14:18I thought he was just scared.
1:14:21I told him there was no way he could hear them.
1:14:24I told him it was time for them to return to the base,
1:14:28that we were there to replace them.
1:14:32He ran off rejoicing.
1:14:35Darko Milosevic and I were in the trench.
1:14:39He was from Ljig.
1:14:41We were there for half an hour when I decided
1:14:45to go pick some branches so we could camouflage the trench.
1:14:53As I picked up a branch and looked down
1:14:58I realized the place was crawling with them.
1:15:0240 to 50 meters from my trench there was an entire platoon.
1:15:10They were entrenching. I could hear them talking.
1:15:15The young man wasn't imagining things
1:15:18when he said he could hear them.
1:15:23There were six of us. We made a plan of attack.
1:15:28We were in a better position because they were below us.
1:15:50We fired three Zolja grenades at them,
1:15:54we were throwing bombs in the direction of the creek,
1:15:57we were firing from machine-guns, automatic rifles…
1:16:01It was fierce.
1:16:04Shqiptars were running around all confused.
1:16:16Then I took a machine-gun with 600 rounds
1:16:20and I placed it on a chopped beech tree
1:16:23and I discharged it.
1:16:26I left it there so I could run faster back uphill.
1:16:34Just as we jumped into our trench
1:16:38they appeared and we annihilated them too.
1:16:42The lull lasted half an hour. I went to my trench.
1:16:46Darko was there and he suggested we have something for breakfast.
1:16:52He opened a can and I went to the trench
1:17:01where we kept the weapons to get the Kalashnikov.
1:17:06Then I heard a detonation and my friends shouting
1:17:11"They killed Darko!"
1:17:15Shqiptar had thrown a bomb into the mortar pit.
1:17:20Shqiptar started running down the hill
1:17:23but the soldiers from the pit on the left killed him.
1:17:33Darko Milosevic was nineteen or twenty at the time.
1:17:39He was from Ljig, Sumadija.
1:18:04We just had to survive that night.
1:18:06We hit them hard, and they were hitting back.
1:18:15It was quite a feat, getting through the night.
1:18:21Nights there were strange.
1:18:26First of all,
1:18:28you have to learn what sounds animals make at night.
1:18:33There were some birds
1:18:35that were making sounds I never heard before.
1:18:39They sounded so creepy I would get goose bumps.
1:18:44Not just me. The others thought it was creepy too.
1:18:50And it was foggy. To this day I get shivers when I see fog.
1:18:54I try to avoid going into the fog.
1:18:59That night they were walking along the frontline
1:19:03with torches in their hands.
1:19:06That way they were provoking us,
1:19:08hoping we would start shooting.
1:19:12They were mimicking the sounds owls make.
1:19:15But even the real owls sounded weird there.
1:19:21It was like a horror film.
1:19:31All the further attacks by KLA forces were repelled.
1:19:34Yugoslav Army fierce resistance
1:19:36prevented KLA forces stationed in Albania
1:19:39from joining forces with the KLA in Kosovo and Metohija.
1:19:42The Serbian side had the initiative now.
1:19:45In May Yugoslav Army intensified the attacks
1:19:49in an attempt to destroy enemy troops.
1:19:52Members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade were assigned
1:19:55to move forward the front line at Rrasa e Koshares,
1:19:59the summit within the territory of the Republic of Yugoslavia,
1:20:02which was seized by KLA on the first day of the attack.
1:20:08It was hard to move the front line forward.
1:20:11No one was advancing because it was a brutal battle.
1:20:17Not much could be done, couple of meters back and forth.
1:20:21It seemed like eternity advancing a hundred meters.
1:20:25We were in the forest where it's hard for the enemy to spot you,
1:20:30but it's also hard for you to spot the enemy.
1:20:36We launched the attack successfully,
1:20:39and soon took the camp.
1:20:42They retreated and we moved into position.
1:20:47The fighting lasted almost three days.
1:20:51With counterattacks they were trying to retrieve the position.
1:20:55At one point they even managed to separate us into two groups.
1:21:05I think they gave up by dawn.
1:21:09Over the night we inflicted heavy losses on them.
1:21:23I am not sure exactly what day it was,
1:21:27maybe the second or the third…
1:21:29One Shqiptar dropped his backpack,
1:21:32and a 1kg package, yellow in color, rolled out of it.
1:21:42One of our soldiers risked getting caught in the crossfire
1:21:45when he went to get it.
1:21:48We were covering him.
1:21:51We all thought it was plastic explosive.
1:21:55Come back!
1:21:57Leave it!
1:22:12Be careful. What is it?
1:22:20It is halvah. -Are you sure?
1:22:23When he opened the backpack
1:22:25we realized it contained 12 kilos of sesame halvah.
1:22:27Was it not for that halvah,
1:22:29we would have stayed hungry for the next two days.
1:22:32Some fighters refused to eat Shqiptar's "explosive",
1:22:36but most of us did.
1:22:39It got us going.
1:22:48It's real good.
1:22:54Do you want some?
1:23:03Maja Zez, a summit
1:23:05that lies at some 2,000 meters above sea level.
1:23:08The right flank of Kosare defense was there.
1:23:12Parts of the 125th Motorized Brigade were positioned there.
1:23:20It was the night of May the 10th,
1:23:26we lay down in our shelters to have some rest.
1:23:29We were about to embark on a major assignment the next day.
1:23:33I woke up around midnight and then I fell asleep again.
1:23:42I was woken up by a deafening detonation.
1:23:51NATO aviation was bombarding positions below us.
1:24:00It woke us up, but soon we went back to sleep.
1:24:06Five minutes later
1:24:07second airstrike ensued targeting out position.
1:24:18They were dropping cluster bombs.
1:24:21We didn't hear the airplanes, just the explosions.
1:24:25The explosions might have lasted three minutes,
1:24:26but to some of us, it seemed like eternity.
1:24:30It is horrific, like a machine-gun fire,
1:24:34but with explosions.
1:24:38Then you hear cluster bomb splinters hitting trees,
1:24:43the cracking of the wood.
1:24:46Then you hear cries from the distance,
1:24:49and the ones closer to you.
1:24:54When the splinter hits human flesh, the sound is subdued.
1:25:10It is very hard for me, talking about this.
1:25:12Believe me. I don't know how to describe it.
1:25:16I keep seeing images of soldiers who died next to me.
1:25:28A friend was killed next to me.
1:25:34Another was seriously wounded, and so was I.
1:25:37Later, in Pristina, they established I was hit by over 100 splinters.
1:25:43My injured friend was begging me to stay with him,
1:25:46not to leave him alone.
1:25:55Hold on, bro! I beg of you!
1:26:02I stayed with him as long as he was showing signs of life.
1:26:07He died in my arms.
1:26:23I arrived up there with a stiff back.
1:26:29I didn't know what to do when I saw 30 to 40 young man
1:26:35who had sustained heavy injuries
1:26:38and were holding on to each other.
1:26:49As they were walking they left a bloody trail behind them.
1:26:57I climbed to the clearing to see whether someone was left behind.
1:27:04Body parts were scattered around.
1:27:07The forest was no longer there.
1:27:10The trees were ripped from the ground.
1:27:13Vukoman Tesovic, Milan Kenic, Sasa Vasiljevic,
1:27:17Dragan Marinkovic, Izet Colakovic, Vladimir Djordjevic,
1:27:25Miladin Dogandzic, Bojan Jovanovic, Sasa Skiljevic,
1:27:31Robert Stosic, Oliver Taricic,
1:27:35Milijan Toskovic, Milan Jevtovic,
1:27:39Petar Mijatovic, Milosav Milosevic and Rade Milosevic
1:27:41died that day at Maja Zez summit from cluster bombs.
1:27:51Yugoslav Army launched a major counter-offensive.
1:27:55They were attacking from all directions.
1:27:57Almost all of the soldiers who were at Kosare took part:
1:28:01members of the 125th Motorized Brigade, volunteers,
1:28:05paratroopers...
1:28:09Out of the blue, I heard this noise that sounded familiar,
1:28:16but I would never expect to encounter it there.
1:28:26It was the sound of an engine that seemed like thunder.
1:28:33It was echoing in the mountains. We exchanged puzzling looks.
1:28:38It reminded me of a tank,
1:28:40but what would a tank be doing at the top of a mountain?
1:28:51Then radio-operator got the information
1:28:55that tanks were coming to our rescue.
1:29:04Engineer corps deserve every accolade
1:29:06for getting those tanks uphill.
1:29:09It was quite a feat.
1:29:11We left the mine field and the tanks followed us.
1:29:16The sound of tanks at that altitude was daunting.
1:29:22The earth was shaking. It's hard to describe.
1:29:26It was a great relief for us
1:29:29and we felt so proud of the people who did it.
1:29:34It was a great feeling, knowing that we were not alone.
1:29:37They were there for us.
1:29:47Every positioning on the front line represented a risk
1:29:51because they were targeting us with infrared-guided missiles
1:29:55round the clock.
1:29:56With every move we were risking lives.
1:30:00These tanks had to cross 30 to 40 km,
1:30:05to climb to the altitude of 1800m
1:30:11and to support us in our assignment.
1:30:19To have tanks climb all the way up to support us,
1:30:23it sure boosted our morale.
1:30:41I told him to take out the beech tree down the road.
1:30:50The tree went flying in the air, almost 20m up.
1:31:09They started running out of their pits and shelters.
1:31:19They just wanted to get out of there,
1:31:22no one was firing back.
1:31:25The distance was short
1:31:27so the grenades where exploding one after another.
1:31:30We took shelter, and the fellow next to me
1:31:34started shooting over their shelter with a machine-gun.
1:31:39He must have cut down all those who were running away.
1:31:45The loading belt has 250 bullets.
1:31:48He would fire a burst of 100 bullets.
1:31:55There is no hiding from that. They were running like mad.
1:32:03They couldn't believe it.
1:32:14We reached the clearing and we were firing from there,
1:32:19but we couldn't advance any further
1:32:22because they were shelling us from the hill on the right.
1:32:27The fire was fierce.
1:32:37Grenades were falling at us from all directions.
1:32:41I was certain it was artillery
1:32:44but I couldn't see them from inside the tank.
1:32:50I couldn't see the entire area.
1:32:52Otherwise, I would have fired randomly.
1:32:59They were firing from a cannon
1:33:02that was positioned at the Albanian border,
1:33:04at the attitude of 1070m, above our lookout post,
1:33:08some 900 m to the north-west.
1:33:12It was regular Albanian army. They were also shelling us
1:33:16from the depth of the territory with howitzers 155.
1:33:20I had no one at the right flank. So I withdrew some 200m.
1:33:30All we could do at that point was to withdraw.
1:33:45We had young men who had just finished their service period
1:33:52and were deployed to the war zone.
1:33:55We decided to bring them in as replacement
1:33:58because we had suffered heavy losses,
1:34:00and soldiers were already exhausted, wet, and hungry.
1:34:06So, those young men must have copped all the fury
1:34:09caused by the damage we have inflicted.
1:34:12They paid the price.
1:34:22The older, experienced soldiers will never forgive themselves
1:34:26for not enduring a bit longer.
1:34:32That's it. We feel responsible.
1:34:54When we looked up,
1:34:56the cloudy sky was covered in thousands of little stars.
1:35:00It went like a wave.
1:35:06They were exploding one after another.
1:35:14We were hit once, I heard cries from one pit,
1:35:23then from another.
1:35:28Then the second attack ensued.
1:35:31That is, the second cluster bomb.
1:35:33All hell broke loose.
1:35:43Sinisa just said "Fellows, hold on!"
1:35:47He protected us with his body. We looked at each other,
1:35:56we were fine, Sinisa was fine.
1:36:00We couldn't believe that we were alive.
1:36:04I've never experienced something like that before,
1:36:08and I hope
1:36:10no one will ever have to go through something like that,
1:36:14to be targeted with cluster bombs
1:36:17that are outlawed by the Geneva Convention.
1:36:22Then it got even worse.
1:36:25Cries were coming from all directions.
1:36:31Sinisa examined us first as we had sustained serious injuries,
1:36:36my friend from Kragujevac Zoran Milivojevic and me.
1:36:39He was hit in the arm and was in a critical condition.
1:36:42Friends came with a ground sheet
1:36:45and got us out of there.
1:36:48Luckily, there was a dispensary van nearby.
1:37:01Luckily, doctor Gile was there. Was it not for him
1:37:08Dikovic wouldn't have survived that injury.
1:37:15I spent all the supplies of infusion solution
1:37:19to maintain his blood pressure.
1:37:22He regained consciousness
1:37:25only after receiving a couple of liters of solution.
1:37:31Raca and I would only part
1:37:33if it was required by an assignment.
1:37:35I told him that the boy would die
1:37:37if I didn't take him to the hospital.
1:37:39Zoran and I pulled through, but after several surgeries
1:37:44I was left without my right leg
1:37:49and Zoran's has a serious arm injury.
1:37:52He can no longer use it.
1:37:58Soon I realized that the two of my men were missing.
1:38:04They were Rade Antonic and Bojan Radojkovic.
1:38:11I looked for their pit, but I couldn't find it in the dark.
1:38:19When reinforcements arrived the day was breaking.
1:38:24We went back to our positions
1:38:27and we found Radojkovic and Antonic dead in their pit.
1:38:34Their shelter was probably hit by cluster bombs first,
1:38:37and then, in the second attack Antonic was hit directly.
1:38:45Bojan Radojkovic didn't have a single wound on his body,
1:38:49at least as far as we could see.
1:38:53It was probably the blast effect that killed him.
1:39:05After May 13, there were no major attacks on Kosare
1:39:08from either side.
1:39:12Unfortunately, the soldiers were still dying in individual attacks,
1:39:16actions, reconnaissance...
1:39:18Yugoslav Army continually engaged the enemy at Kosare,
1:39:23as KLA have taken the outpost on the third day.
1:39:29They were using the outpost as a base,
1:39:32and they were so confident
1:39:33that they brought many foreign journalists there.
1:39:41Yugoslav army was using mortars and howitzers
1:39:44to shell the outpost, and since May 12,
1:39:47they were using a multipurpose rocket launcher
1:39:49and an aerial bomb launcher called "Kosava".
1:39:52Although there were claims that Kosare outpost
1:39:56was mistakenly hit during NATO airstrikes on May 21, 1999,
1:40:00our officers claim that it was us who hit Kosare outpost.
1:40:13I launched four aerial bombs from Kosava launcher
1:40:19aiming at our outpost.
1:40:22For another half an hour we were firing from VBRs
1:40:25and howitzers.
1:40:30We spent loads of ammunition to prepare for the attack.
1:40:50When it became apparent that the troops at Kosare
1:40:53won't be able to break through
1:40:55and that land offensive couldn't be launched from that direction,
1:40:58by the end of May 1999,
1:41:01KLA troops, supported by NATO forces,
1:41:04tried to penetrate deep into the territory of Kosovo and Metohija
1:41:08from a different direction,
1:41:10across Pastrik Mountain towards Prizren.
1:41:13Yugoslav forces managed to hold off the attack.
1:41:16Military actions known as Arrow 1 and Arrow 2 have failed.
1:41:22They didn't achieve their goal,
1:41:24to join KLA forces stationed in Albania and KLA in Kosovo
1:41:28and to defeat Pristina Corps of the Yugoslav Third Army.
1:41:40Yugoslav Army left Kosare and Pastrik
1:41:44only after the signing of Kumanovo Agreement,
1:41:47when the withdrawal from Kosovo began on June 14th.
1:41:52Until then, Yugoslav border was defended,
1:41:56and its army was undefeated.
1:42:14These photographs were taken in the period 1998-1999
1:42:18in the Kosare outpost area.
1:42:22This is above the outpost.
1:42:27Border line is here somewhere, and this land in the background
1:42:31is the territory of the Republic of Albania.
1:42:35So it is clear whose position was dominant.
1:42:39This photo was taken at point 502.
1:42:44Here you can see the famous creek.
1:42:47This was a rugged terrain with lots of rocks.
1:42:51These are old beech trees.
1:42:56The next picture was taken from point 601 at Rrasa e Koshares.
1:43:02In the distance, deep in the Albanian territory
1:43:06we can see their outpost.
1:43:08I circled it.
1:43:10In the back it says "Kosare, January 1999".
1:43:15This is me with Ivan Vasojevic.
1:43:21We would talk all night, airing out our problems.
1:43:25He confided in me, I knew all his secrets.
1:43:29He remains in our hearts.
1:43:31Those are the wounds that never heal.
1:43:34Each of them took with them a piece of us.
1:43:37This is what saved my life that day.
1:43:43Automatic rifle magazine I had on me.
1:43:47I carried it in my flak vest on the left, below the heart.
1:43:54The first bullet hit the magazine edge.
1:43:59Had it gone a centimeter to the left,
1:44:02I would have ended up dead.
1:44:04On impact two bullets inside caught on fire.
1:44:13Teir bullet got stuck in one of mine forming a cross.
1:44:22I saw it as a sign, a symbol.
1:44:26This is all I have left from Kosare.
1:44:32I cannot describe how valuable this ID tag is to me.
1:44:38It is the most valuable thing I have.
1:44:43This is the original paper with my personal details,
1:44:48and these stains are from my blood.
1:45:33News and Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief
1:45:35Nenad Lj. Stefanovic
1:45:38Author Sladjana Zaric
1:45:47Executive producer Snezana Rodic Sindjelic
1:45:51Journalist Vesna Ilic
1:45:56Narrator Nenad Jezdic
1:45:59Cameraman Milan Stanic
1:46:01Sound designer Bojan Mangovic
1:46:04Set designer Snezana Popovic
1:46:07Composer Vladimir Tosic
1:46:10Director of photography Zarko Pekez
1:46:13Editor Bojan Perisic
1:46:17Translation Jasmina Ristic
1:46:40RTS 2019

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Ratne priče sa Košara | NATO bombardovanje SFRJ by RTS Merila vremena, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 9,960 words across 1,299 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.