NATO aggression - 25 years ago the bombing of Yugoslavia began

Tomorrow, March 24, the whole world will remember the 25th anniversary of the terrible tragedy and even crimes against humanity.

 On March 24, 1999, NATO troops began bombing Yugoslavia. I’ll tell you about this in more detail for those who don’t particularly follow history, and especially for those who consider NATO to be such a white and fluffy “exclusively defensive bloc of states” that profess human rights, the rule of law and international law.

 This, if you didn’t understand, was cruel irony.

 So.

On March 24, 1999, NATO Secretary General Javier Solana ordered the commander of NATO forces in Europe, American General Wesley Clark, to launch a military operation against Yugoslavia. In the evening of the same day, Belgrade, Pristina, Uzice, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Pancevo, Podgorica and other cities and towns were subjected to air strikes.

 In NATO documents, the bombing was officially called Operation Allied Force; in the USA the name Operation Noble Anvil was also used.

At the beginning of the operation, NATO deployed a group of 344 aircraft against Yugoslavia. By the time the operation ended (June 10, 1999), the group already consisted of 1031 aircraft.

 Bombing and missile attacks continued between March 24 and June 10, 1999.

 During the 78-day operation, NATO aircraft flew 35,219 sorties and more than 23,000 bombs and missiles were dropped and fired, with the total tonnage of bombs dropped estimated at between 22,000 and 80,000 tons. In addition to aviation, missiles were used en masse - the Americans fired 180 sea-launched cruise missiles at 66 targets and 60 air-launched cruise missiles; the British Navy also fired 20 cruise missiles from a submarine.

According to the  Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) authorities, from March 24 to June 10, 1999, about 1,000 army personnel and law enforcement officers were killed.

 The total number of civilian deaths was over 1,700 people, including almost 400 children, and about 10 thousand were seriously injured. About 1 million people were left without water, 500 thousand people were left without work, and thousands were left without a roof over their heads.

 According to Yugoslav officials, the damage from the bombings was estimated by the state at about $100 billion. The EU's estimate is more modest - the maximum amount needed to restore damage in Yugoslavia ranged from 30 to 50 billion dollars.

Anyone who likes to accuse Russia and its leadership of "the first destruction of the established world architecture since World War II” and violation of state borders - I suggest you remember NATO’s aggression against a sovereign, internationally recognized state in the very center of Europe.

 And what’s quite interesting is that NATO began its bombing without UN authorization, calling it a “humanitarian intervention,” essentially ignoring the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force without a decision of the UN Security Council or not for the purpose of self-defense.

   At the same time, the cynicism of the NATO military and politicians was already off the charts. They called air strikes on civilian infrastructure “humanitarian bombings.”

And it's not a joke. For example, here is what Czech President Vaclav Havel said about this in an article in Le Monde on April 29, 1999:

  I think there is an element in the NATO invasion of Kosovo that no one can doubt: the air attacks, the bombs, are not motivated by material interests. Their character is exclusively humanitarian: the main role is played by principles and human rights, which take precedence even over state sovereignty. This makes the invasion of the Federation of Yugoslavia legal even without a UN mandate.

Here we can recall the attack on the Belgrade television center and the Chinese Embassy - humanitarian bombing in all its glory.

 It is worth noting that NATO troops committed a number of other acts that also fall under the definition of crimes against humanity.

 For example, the use of ammunition with depleted uranium.

 According to Yugoslav officials, radioactive contamination of the area occurred during the fighting. Moreover, after the end of hostilities in Serbia, several lawsuits were filed against NATO for the use of depleted uranium during the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.

   However, Western structures categorically denied harming the environment and public health.

According to a UNEP investigation, the use of depleted uranium in Yugoslavia had no impact on the environment or population.

 And the British Royal Scientific Society on the health hazards of depleted uranium ammunition concluded that the health risks caused by its use in weapons are extremely insignificant.

It would be strange if the West said something different...

 Ultimately, the West was able to achieve its goal. Yugoslavia withdrew its troops from Kosovo and signed an unfavorable treaty.

 And then it ceased to exist altogether.

 However, not everything went smoothly for NATO. And considering the absolute superiority of the Western military machine over Yugoslavia, this looks simply incredible.

NATO casualty figures vary. I will not voice them; those who wish can find them themselves and decide for themselves which sources to believe - Western or Yugoslav.

 But there were moments that even Western propaganda could not silence.

 The loss of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft was a colossal blow to the image of the Western (primarily American) military machine.

   One plane in the late 90s cost about 110 million dollars (about 280 modern million dollars taking into account inflation).

 On the evening of March 27, 1999, the Nighthawk was shot down by a crew of the old Soviet S-125 air defense system, from the 3rd Battalion of the 250th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, under the command of Colonel Zoltan Dani.

The wreckage of the downed plane crashed near the village of Budzhanovci, about 40 kilometers from Belgrade.

The next day, the United States officially acknowledged the loss of the invincible F-117.

 The F-117 lost in Serbia was the only stealth aircraft shot down in history. Its wreckage is currently in the Belgrade Aviation Museum. But the “insides” have disappeared. Rumor has it that the aircraft's contents were removed by Russian specialists, on the plane of Russian Foreign Minister V. Primakov.

 But these are, of course, just rumors…

 By the way, after Yugoslavia, the Americans did not use their stealth aircraft, and in the late 2000s the program was completely curtailed.

 This is a memory pill, my dear readers...

 25 years ago, the Western world, without UN sanction, tore apart a sovereign state in the center of Europe.

Don't forget this. Especially when you hear about the peace-loving NATO bloc, which, of course, does not threaten anyone.