900 people defend Dubrovnik against 30,000 attackers

On the first day of October 1991, the attack on Dubrovnik and the far south of Croatia began. Against nearly 30,000 members of the JNA and affiliated forces, along with tanks, artillery, aircraft, and warships, the Dubrovnik area was defended by just over 900 Croatian soldiers and police officers. The city was soon left without electricity and water, and tens of thousands of people found themselves under siege.

The combined forces of the Yugoslav People's Army, Navy, and Air Force, supported by members of the Territorial Defense of Montenegro and East Herzegovina, as well as Chetnik volunteer units, launched an attack on Dubrovnik and southern Croatia on October 1, 1991.

The attacking forces numbered nearly 30,000 soldiers, along with about 100 tanks, 50 armored personnel carriers, 120 artillery pieces, around 100 aircraft, and several warships. Opposing them, the Dubrovnik area was defended by just over 900 Croatian soldiers and police officers. The defense forces, under the command of Nojko Marinković, were not only outnumbered many times over but were also poorly armed.

The attack was preceded by provocations, while Dubrovnik and the Adriatic coast found themselves under a naval blockade. JNA and Territorial Defense units from Montenegro crossed the border at Debeli Brijeg and advanced toward Konavle. Forces from East Herzegovina advanced from the direction of Ivanica toward Brgat, and from the direction of Hum toward Osojnik. At the same time, parts of the Herzegovina and Titograd Corps advanced through Ravno and Čepikuće toward Slano. That same morning, aircraft rocketed the transmitter on Srđ, plunging Dubrovnik into a communication blackout. Contact with the outside world was maintained by Dubrovnik's ham radio operators. On the very first day, the city was left without electricity and water, while the naval blockade was breached by the speedboats of the Dubrovnik Armed Boats Squad.

Despite the immense superiority of the attacking forces, Croatian defenders put up fierce resistance at Radovčići, Zvekovica, Brgat, and Bosanka, as well as at the Strinčjera fortress. They managed to hold the positions near Čepikuće for more than a month and a half.

Under the onslaught of the significantly superior JNA forces, a large part of the area from Prevlaka to Ston was occupied, and Dubrovnik found itself encircled and under artillery attack. Without electricity and water, and cut off from the rest of Croatia, the residents of Dubrovnik lived under siege and bombardment for months. Scenes of the shelling and destruction of Dubrovnik soon spread around the world. A particularly heavy bombardment followed on December 6, 1991, when the historic core of the city was also attacked.

The attacks did not stop even after the beginning of 1992. Croatian military operations during the spring and summer gradually liberated the Dubrovnik hinterland and broke the blockade of the city. Dubrovnik, one of the most recognizable Croatian cities and a world cultural heritage site, survived months of siege thanks to the resistance of its few defenders and the population that remained in the city.

Source: HRT