Siege of Kijevo
Siege of Kijevo | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Croatian War of Independence | |||||||
The location of Kijevo within Croatia. Areas controlled by the JNA in late December 1991 are highlighted in red. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Yugoslavia SAO Krajina | Croatia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ratko Mladić Perislav Đukić Milan Martić | Martin Čičin Šain | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
TO | Croatian Police | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
unknown | 58 policemen | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None |
20 captured 2 wounded |
The 1991 siege of Kijevo was one of the earliest clashes of the Croatian War of Independence. The 9th Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) led by Colonel Ratko Mladić and the forces of the Serbian Autonomous Oblast (region) of Krajina (SAO Krajina) under Knin police chief Milan Martić besieged the Croat-inhabited village of Kijevo in late April and early May 1991. The initial siege was lifted after negotiations that followed major protests in Split against the JNA.
The JNA and the SAO Krajina forces renewed the blockade in mid-August. Kijevo was captured on 26 August, and subsequently looted and burned. The fighting in Kijevo was significant as one of the first instances when the JNA openly sided with the SAO Krajina against Croatian authorities. The Croatian police fled Kijevo towards the town of Drniš and the remaining Croatian population left the village.
Martić was tried at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on several different charges of war crimes including, his involvement in the siege of Kijevo. The trial resulted in a guilty verdict, and the findings of the Trial Chamber regarding Kijevo, made in 2007, were confirmed by the ICTY Appeals Chamber in 2008, based on witness testimonies about it being ethnic cleansing. The siege was the first instance of use of the ethnic cleansing in the Yugoslav Wars. Croatian authorities tried Mladić in absentia and convicted him for war crimes committed in Kijevo.
Background
In 1990, ethnic tensions between
At the beginning of 1991, Croatia had no regular army. To bolster its defence, Croatia doubled police personnel to about 20,000. The most effective part of the force was
Kijevo ambush
In 1991, Kijevo was a village of 1,261 people, 99.6% of whom were Croats. It was surrounded by the Serb villages of Polača, Civljane and Cetina.[13][14] Following the Log revolution, the three Serb villages had become part of the SAO Krajina and road access to Kijevo was restricted as barricades were set up in Polača and Civljane on the roads serving the village.[15] In response, its population set up an ad hoc militia.[16]
Following the Plitvice Lakes incident of 1 April 1991, SAO Krajina forces captured three Croatian policemen from nearby
April–May blockade
In the night of 27/28 April, a group of
August blockade
The May arrangement proved short-lived, as the JNA units, again led by Mladić, put up barricades to prevent entry into the village on 17 August 1991. The next day, the Croatian Serb leader Milan Martić laid down an ultimatum to the police and inhabitants of Kijevo, demanding that they leave the village and its vicinity within two days—or face an armed attack.[26][27]
Between 23 and 25 August, Croatian forces evacuated nearly the entire civilian population of the village.[28] On 25 August, Croatian forces launched a failed attack on JNA barracks in Sinj, 38 kilometres (24 miles) to the southeast of Kijevo. The objective of the attack was to obtain weapons, needed as Croatian positions near Kijevo deteriorated.[29]
On 26 August, the JNA attacked Kijevo, opposed by 58 policemen armed with small arms only and commanded by police station chief Martin Čičin Šain. Between 05:18 and 13:00, the JNA fired 1,500 artillery shells against the village, and the Yugoslav Air Force supported the attack with 34 close air support sorties. The same afternoon, the JNA mounted a ground force assault on Kijevo.[30] According to Martić, each house in Kijevo was fired upon.[31] The attacking force consisted of approximately 30 tanks supported by JNA infantry and Croatian Serb militia.[32]
The JNA entered the village by 16:30.
Aftermath
The clash between the Croatian forces and the JNA in Kijevo was one of the first instances where the JNA openly sided with the insurgent Serbs in the rapidly escalating Croatian War of Independence,[34] acting based on Martić's ultimatum.[31] The defending force suffered only two wounded, but one of the retreating groups was captured.[30] The group, consisting of 20 men,[38] were later released in a prisoner of war exchange.[30] The JNA suffered no casualties.[33] After the JNA secured Kijevo, the village was looted and torched.[32][36] The destruction of Kijevo became one of the most notorious Serb crimes in the early stages of the war.[39] The JNA units which took part in the fighting in and around Kijevo advanced towards Sinj in the following few days, capturing Vrlika before being redeployed to take part in the Battle of Šibenik in mid-September.[32]
At the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the trial of Milan Martić resulted in a guilty verdict with regard to Martić's involvement on Kijevo, and the findings of the Trial Chamber in 2007 regarding Kijevo were confirmed by the Appeals Chamber in 2008, based on witness testimonies about it being ethnic cleansing.[28] The siege of Kijevo was the first instance of application of the strategy of ethnic cleansing in the Yugoslav Wars.[40] The events at Kijevo were not included in the indictment at the trial of Ratko Mladić, but the Croatian judiciary tried Mladić in absentia for war crimes committed in Kijevo. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.[41]
References
- ^ Hoare 2010, p. 117.
- ^ Hoare 2010, p. 118.
- ^ The New York Times & 19 August 1990.
- ^ ICTY & 12 June 2007.
- ^ Hoare 2010, pp. 118–119.
- ^ Ramet 2006, pp. 384–385.
- ^ Hoare 2010, p. 119.
- ^ Engelberg & 3 March 1991.
- ^ Sudetic & 2 April 1991.
- ^ a b c CIA 2002, p. 86.
- ^ EECIS 1999, pp. 272–278.
- ^ Ramet 2006, p. 400.
- ^ a b c d Gow 2003, p. 154.
- ^ Silber & Little 1996, p. 171.
- ^ Slobodna Dalmacija & 18 August 2010.
- ^ a b c Hrvatski vojnik & October 2012.
- ^ Municipality of Kijevo 2007.
- ^ Degoricija 2008, p. 49.
- ^ Hrvatski vojnik & May 2009.
- ^ a b Woodward 1995, p. 142.
- ^ FBIS & 2 May 1991, p. 38.
- ^ Nacional & 22 August 2005.
- ^ Ružić 2011, p. 411.
- ^ Slobodna Dalmacija & 6 May 2001.
- ^ Lučić 2008, p. 123.
- ^ Gow 2003, pp. 154–155.
- ^ Allcock, Milivojević & Horton 1998, p. 142.
- ^ a b ICTY & 12 June 2007, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Slobodna Dalmacija & 25 August 2010
- ^ a b c d e Deljanin & 27 May 2011.
- ^ a b Armatta 2010, p. 397.
- ^ a b c Novosti & 3 June 2011.
- ^ a b JNA & 27 August 1991.
- ^ a b Gow 2003, p. 155.
- ^ Silber & Little 1996, pp. 171–173.
- ^ a b Magaš 1993, p. 320.
- ^ Silber & Little 1996, p. 172.
- ^ ICTY & 12 June 2007, p. 107.
- ^ Hoare 2010, p. 122.
- ^ Gow 2003, p. 120.
- ^ Jutarnji list & 26 May 2011.
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