OPERATION "CORRIDOR" IS CONFIRMATION THAT FREEDOM IS THE HIGHEST VALUE FOR SERB SOLDIER

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 20 /SRNA/ - The Operation Corridor, like many other battles waged in the Defense-Patriotic War, showed that freedom is the highest value for a Serb soldier, the president of the Republic Veterans' Organization Radan Ostojić told SRNA.

Ostojić emphasized that the Operation Corridor 92 was brilliantly planned and commanded by the military strategists of the Republika Srpska Army, and was executed with the courage, valor, and heroism of Serb soldiers, members of the armed forces of Republika Srpska and the Republic of Serbian Krajina.

"The operation codenamed Corridor 92 was a matter of `to be or not to be, to survive or disappear` for the Serb people, Republika Srpska, and the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Its objective was to establish territorial linkage between the western and eastern parts of Republika Srpska and to ensure its territorial continuity, as well as to connect the western part of Republika Srpska and the Republic of Serbian Krajina with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, that is, with motherland Serbia," Ostojić noted.

He said that after just a few days of combat, the primary objective was achieved when units of the First Krajina Corps and the Eastern Bosnian Corps of the Republika Srpska Army linked up near Modriča. The operation continued until the liberation of Brod in October 1992.

He emphasized that in this operation, the Serb Army liberated Derventa, Modriča, Odžak, and Brod, achieving its first major victory over enemy units of the Croatian Army, HVO, and the so-called Army of BiH in the early phase of the Defense Patriotic War. This victory laid the groundwork for further successes in many subsequent battles, ultimately leading to the defense of freedom and the rebirth of Republika Srpska.

"The successfully executed Operation Corridor 92 prevented yet another genocide against the Serb people, as even the desperate pleas to save the lives of 12 newborn babies meant nothing to the enemy. The death of those 12 angels was the immediate trigger for launching the operation and served as a guiding light for every Serb soldier - a reminder that freedom and Republika Srpska are priceless," Ostojić said.

Ostojić noted that the bravest perished in the battle for the corridor of life, and that remembering the more than 400 killed and 1,200 wounded is a sacred duty for every Serb living in a free Republika Srpska today.

"The Operation Corridor 92, like many other battles fought in the Defense-Patriotic War, showed that freedom is the highest value for the Serb soldier — that a Serb soldier is born free and dies free, or fighting for freedom. What is defined in the Kosovo Vow is deeply ingrained in the genes of every Serb soldier and passed down from generation to generation. That is why today we have Republika Srpska and live as free people," Ostojić said.

The military Operation Corridor 92 lasted from June 14 to June 28 in the Posavina area. It enabled the western parts of Republika Srpska and the Republic of Serbian Krajina to be connected with other parts of Srpska and with Serbia.

The operation, prompted by the death of 12 newborn babies in the Banjaluka maternity ward due to a lack of oxygen, ended the 42-day-long land and air blockade of the western part of Republika Srpska and the Republic of Serbian Krajina.

The 33rd anniversary of the Corridor breakthrough — the decisive battle that determined the fate of the Serb people in this region and led to the establishment of Srpska's territorial integrity — will be commemorated on Sunday, June 22, at Duga Njiva near Modriča.