NEVER FORGOTTEN HEROES

He led 12 soldiers against

300 'KLA' terrorists at Koshare

Source KM Newspapers Translation to English

Since Serbia has been soft occupied  country in 85% of its territory and hard occupied country in 15% (Autonomic Province of Kosovo and Metohija), it is "not recommended" to mention any heroic deed of Serbs during Balkan separatist wars. That goes, in particular, for Serb's defenders against NATO terrorist aggression on SR Yugoslavia in 1999. During that undeclared, perfidious attack more than 3000 people had been killed and named as "collateral damage" by certain individuals named Clinton, Clark, and all the other war criminals, that were prosecuted in Serbia, in absence, and sentenced up to 80 years of imprisonment, each. However, stories about heroic pilots, soldiers and civilians are still alive and gonna surface in full when Serbia gets its freedom again. This is one of these stories, about а valiant Sergeant Ivan Vasojevic, defender of Kosovo and Metohija.

One of the witnesses of the Koshare Hell, Goran Jevtović, described the heroes who were there and gave their lives for honor, freedom and fatherland. Serbs will never forget their gallant sons.

Colonel Goran Jevtović is a retired officer of Serb's Army. During the joint aggression of NATO forces, the Army of Albania and the terrorists of Shqiptar (Albanian) national minority in Serbian Autonomic Province "Kosovo and Metohija", Colonel Goran Jevtović had been the officer at the Headquarters of the Fifth Pristina Corps of the Yugoslav Army, and subsequently the Cabinet Chief of Staff Nebojsa Pavkovic. He was a witness for the defense in The Hague at the trial of General Vladimir Lazarevic. 

The position of the Border Post "Koshare" at the border of Republic of Serbia (lower ground) and Republic of Albania (higher ground). In the lower left corner, a direction of NATO, Albanian and KLA terrorist forces attack. This joint force has never achieved to penetrate through  Serb's defense positions. They put their foot on Serb's soil, after the Kumanovo Agreement.

Around noon, the boundary stone 4/6 C (about 400 m from the watchtower), defense unit of 12 Serb’s soldiers led by Sergeant Ivan Vasojević (born in Sjenica), about 300 terrorists of the special unit "Kosovo Liberation Army" (all in black uniforms) started the attack across the glade from Albania state territory.
I ordered him to withdraw about 100 meters back and spread to a thinner defensive line. He executed the order. I ordered him then, to withdraw further to the reserve position, in case of more serious penetration of the enemy, not to open fire without great necessity and to wait patiently for the reinforcement that has been on the way, already.
Sergeant Vasojević reported that he understood the order..
This was followed by a lull. Vasojević reported on the number of the Shqiptar’s terrorists and requested artillery support if enemy would enter deeper into our territory. He was ordered not to take any action other than the ordered measures. Sergeant reported that he understood.

Sergeant Ivan Vasojević from Sijenica, a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of the western Serbia, officially forgotten, but unofficially never to be out of Serb's Nation heart and remembrance. 

Ten minutes later, suddenly the radio connection transmitted his voice. He was getting, the soldiers under his command, ready. He was giving them last minute instructions for the real onslaught!
At first I thought he was joking, trying to deceive the enemy forces, and especially their experts who were listening our radio connection.
However, soon we realized that he accidentally stuck handset combination of the belts thus unwittingly allowed that all those who had radios, about hundred all participants in the area and with and around of them, another 5-10 fighters, could listen alive the counter-charge of 13 Serb’s soldiers on at least 300 Arnauts and other specialists.
There was a "Hurrah" as in wildest movies and the unprecedented battle started! The battle that went on the air for several minutes, and in which 13 of them stormed the 300. And literally hand to hand, face to face! After 15 minutes, a sudden and complete silence.
No one calls anyone. For long. If I called him, whether he would answer? ... The estimation was that they fell, all of them.

And, there was Vasojević, reporting (as I recall) "... we are all аlive, I have one wounded, enemy is neutralized, those who survived retreated deep across the border ... I defied the order to withdraw, but I did neutralize them in the counterattack ..."

All the fighters in the front line over 50 km wide, went bananas! Fired all weapons! Adrenalized all to persevere, to fight valiantly, to remain in their positions. The glade, where the battle took place, was no longer green, it was black ... of the uniforms of the "Kosovo Liberation Army" terrorists. 
Two days later, Sergeant Ivan Vasojević was killed in action in the region of Maja Glava, rescuing a wounded soldier. The wounded soldier survived. Sergeant Ivan did not. He had 24 years, only. 
The Hero! Glory to you and thank you Ivan! Vechnaya pamyat! 

• God's will, symbolically, Ivan Vasojević died on the very day of Easter. 

THE BACKGROUND STORY

“THE HELL OF KOSHARE”
THE DAY WHEN “300 HUNDRED SERB'S SPARTANS” STOOD UP AGAINST NATO…

Source Facebook Reporter by Dimitrije Markovic for FB page “Say No to EU” FBR translation & comments- M. Novakovic

On Good Friday 1999. The “Hell of Koshare” begun…

That Friday (Orthodox “Good Friday”), on April 9th. 1999, the Battle of Mountain Koshare commenced. Due to the fact, that Serbian (officially Yugoslav Army) forces were heavily outnumbered by the enemy, they suffered the losses of 60 killed, and over 150 wounded soldiers… Among killed YA soldiers was the Russian volunteer Bulah Glebovich. The battle was remembered as “The Hell of Koshare”… 

Young Serbian soldiers posing outside border post “Koshare” (1999)

The Koshare Battle raged between April 9th to June 10th 1999. At that time Serbian forces, that were part of regular Yugoslavian army, faced at least three times stronger enemy, combined of NATO troops, regular Albanian army, and Kosovo Albanian terrorists, disguised as KLA (“Kosovo liberation army”).
As the aggressor positions were at higher (elevation) ground in relation to the positions of Yugoslav Army, and the “Koshare” Yugoslav border post was isolated and hard to defend, the enemy chose this location for a major attack point.

The NATO goal was to defeat outnumbered YA troops at “Koshare crossing”, and to continue from there with a land invasion, inside Serbian province “Kosovo & Metohija”.
Their plan was to seize the city of Djakovica, and to cut off YA communication lines between Djakovica and Prizren. The major objective was to occupy entire Serbian province and force YA to militarily engage the enemy in open, which would enable NATO air power to go for “easy kill”.
Previously NATO had very little success in bombing well camouflaged YA forces, from high altitude.

On Good Friday, April 9th. 1999. at 03:00 hours, the massive artillery barrage from Albanian side of the border begun, targeting the Koshare crossing. This attack against Yugoslav army “border trenches” was launched by the regular army of Republic of Albania. Albanian army was reinforced by NATO special forces, namely French Foreign legion, British SAS, and German and Italian military special forces (scouts and target locators for Albanian artillery and NATO air force). Albanians were attacking from three directions. The first was toward the “Rasha peak”, the second straight against the Koshare border post, and the third one targeting the peak “Maja Glava”.
During the artillery barrage, some 1,500 KLA fighters were able to move undetected to the border line. At that time there was only 200 soldiers of Yugoslav Army. The bloody battle lasted whole day with heavy losses on both sides, but the number of killed enemy forces was much greater.

“These were horrible images, the land and skies were engulfed in the fire. The cries from the wounded and dying were heard all over the place. The artillery projectiles had cut in half the big tress, some thick one meter in diameter, but we held the line of defense.” – Recalls Lt. Colonel Ljubinko Djurkovic.

The battle lasted whole night, until the dawn next day. With the help of Albanian artillery, KLA was able to seize the peak “Maja Glava”. They continued to bomb Koshare border post, forcing the YA soldiers to retreat from the border post building, the same afternoon. In the evening, around 19:00 hours, KLA fighters accompanied by American CNN and British BBC TV crews, entered the abandoned and ruined border post building, celebrating “the big victory”…

Meanwhile the Yugoslav army soldiers just retreated to the auxiliary line of defense, above (the higher altitude) the Koshare border post, which was much easier to defend.

The next day YA was reinforced by the fresh troops, and artillery support. Among the reinforcement were even the fathers of young YA conscripts, who came, if necessary, to die along their sons.

63. Serb's Paratrooper Brigade

“My battalion was numbering some one thousand soldiers, as the part of 125th armored brigade. We were reinforced by a number commandos from the elite 63rd parachute brigade, from city of Nis, as well with many volunteer fighters. We had two companies of the foreign volunteer fighters. The first one was made of 40 Russian Cossacks, and the second had some 20 Scandinavian volunteers. We all were prepared- rather to die, instead to allow one inch of Serbian land to be conquered by the enemy boots. “- Remembers Lt. Colonel Ljubinko Djurkovic.

According to Lt. Col. Djurkovic, the battles in that regions were raging all the time, until the war was officially over in June 1999, when Yugoslavian leadership and NATO aggressors, have signed so called “Kumanovo agreement” (which provided for orderly withdraw of Yugoslavian forces and military hardware from Kosovo, under UN resolution 1244, which still recognizes Kosovo as a part of the Serbian state). 

The battle that was taking place in the tranches along Yugoslavian-Albanian border, stretching over 15 kilometers in diameter, was so horrific , that was remembered among Serbian soldiers as “THE HELL OF KOSHARE”. 

For two months the enemy was unsuccessfully trying every single day to break through Serbian defensive lines. The attacks culminated on first day April 9th, then on April 12th, and May 6th , and were preceded by more than 10 hours of bombing by NATO air force, each time.

“Among our regular intelligence reports about the enemy movements and intentions, we were able as well to penetrate NATO HQ, and obtain from our agent their list of intended targets. Afterward we staged the fake military positions, using the makeshift models. They needed sometime up to two days to figure that out, meanwhile NATO was wasting the tons of bombs and missiles on fake targets.”- Lt. Col. Djurkovic

As a result this heroic battle, remembered among Serbian soldiers as “The Hell of Koshare”, the NATO plans for land invasion have completely failed. The official figure of the NATO, Albanian army and KLA terrorists losses, was around 150 killed (even the real number of recovered bodies was much higher), more than 300 wounded(?), and five destroyed tanks, belonging to the regular army of the Republic of Albania…

Serb's Paratroopers

Eternal gratitude and glory to Serb's gallant Army ...

63. Paratrooper Brigade

72. Special Brigade

125. Armored Brigade

and all the Volunteers

Cossack from Russia

International Squadron consisting of Volunteers from Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Scotland and Ireland.

+++

I ask You Lord remember in the Kingdom of Thy, all the Orthodox soldiers killed on the battlefield, because they fell for the freedom of their Serbian land… And receive them in your celestial land as sacrificed Martyrs covered in own blood, and who died for Thy Holy Church, and their Fatherland… 

To be blessed by Your kindness... 

Amen.