NUŽDIĆ: DEFENSE OF THE SARAJEVO-ROMANIJA REGION WAS CRUCIAL

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 16 /SRNA/ - The Defense of the Sarajevo-Romanija Region from 1992 to 1995 determined the fate not only of that area but of the entire Republika Srpska, Viktor Nuždić, acting director of the Republic Center for Research of War, War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons, told SRNA.

"The soldiers of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Republika Srpska Army, through their courage and determination, repelled numerous enemy offensives, defending every inch of their homeland," Nuždić said on the occasion of the Day of the Defense of the Sarajevo-Romanija Region. He emphasized that the Serbs of Sarajevo were among the first to feel the full brutality and horrors of the war. "The murder of a member of the Serb wedding party in Baščaršija served as a harsh warning and a clear sign of what awaited the Serbs in the coming days," Nuždić stated. Nuždić noted that more crimes soon followed in camps such as Kazani, Silos, Viktor Bubanj, and many other locations in Sarajevo, which became sites of torture and suffering for the Serb people. "Only by taking into account these sufferings can we truly understand the importance of the defense of the Sarajevo-Romanija region," Nuždić emphasized. According to him, June 16, 1992, holds particular significance, as that is when the transport link between Lukavica and Pale was established. "This route was a key connection that enabled regular supply to Serb settlements as well as the evacuation of the wounded. This very success is a symbol of the courage and resistance of a people who did not give up even in the most difficult moments of the war," Nuždić stressed. Representatives of Republika Srpska and Serbia laid wreaths today at the Novi Zejtinlik Military Cemetery in Sokolac to mark the Day of the Defense of the Sarajevo-Romanija Region, one of the most difficult operations carried out by the Republika Srpska Army, specifically its Sarajevo-Romanija Corps, during the Defense Patriotic War. A total of 949 fallen soldiers of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps are buried at the Novi Zejtinlik Military Cemetery in Sokolac. The Sarajevo-Romanija Corps was formed on May 22, 1992, by order of the Main Staff of the Republika Srpska Army, with its headquarters in Lukavica. The Serb soldiers of this corps repelled 35 offensives launched by units of the so-called Army of BiH, whose objective was to break through the corps' positions and reach the Drina River.