storm - Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog ...

Brigade captured Golubić, Vrpolje and Kninsko Polje, and advanced to Debelo Brdo
from which it secured the left fl ank of the 7 th Guards Brigade in the area of Biskupija. Th e
Brigade was engaged more heavily in the area of Golubić and in the villages of Radijevci
and Očestovo. 184 Th e 7 th Guards Brigade met with no signifi cant opposition along its
line of attack and at 1100 hours it entered Knin “with minimum losses”. 185 Th e liberation
of Knin was the main event in the theatre, not only on 5 August but also throughout
the operation. On the same day the President of the Republic of Croatia F. Tuđman
appointed Reserve General Ivan Čermak as commander of the Knin Assembly Point,
responsible for the organization of life and of the garrison service in the town. 186 One day
later President Tuđman visited Knin, accompanied by the Speaker of the Parliament of
the Republic of Croatia Dr. Nedjeljko Mihanović, and the Ministers of Foreign Aff airs,
Defence and Internal Aff airs, Mate Granić, Gojko Šušak and Ivan Jarnjak, resp. Th e
liberation of Knin, the centre of the Serbian rebellion in the Republic of Croatia, held
a great symbolic signifi cance because it spelt the collapse of the Serbian rebellion in
Croatia. Tuđman’s arrival in Knin symbolically marked the end of the Serbian para-state
in Croatia and the start of the restoration of sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia over
the area liberated in Operation Storm. 187
Operational Group Sinj - the HV 126 th Home Guard Regiment, the HV 144 th Brigade
and the HV 6 th Home Guard Regiment - completed its battle mission by establishing
control over the area of Polača and Kozjak. It liberated the villages of Kijevo and Vrlika,
the known Croatian strongholds from 1991. 188 Th ere was little fi ghting because in the
night of 4 August the units of the 1 st Light Brigade pulled back to Polača (Sivo Brdo),
where they disintegrated, and the remnants withdrew to Knin and farther off to Lika. 189
Th e SVK 75 th Motorized Brigade, deployed in the line of attack of OG Šibenik, began
to pull back towards Brljan - Pađene - Srb - Bosanski Petrovac in the morning of 5
August. 190 By 2000 hours the HV 113 th Brigade reached the Žažvić - Bribirska Glavica -
184 SVA MORH, ZZPS: ZP Split Command, cl. 032-01/95-01/12, reg. no. 1080-01-03-95-34 of 5 August
1995; Daily report. SVA MORH, 4th Gbr: 4th Gbr; cl. str. conf. 8/95/01/17, reg. no. 1114-01-02-95-371 of
14 August 1995; Analysis of off ensive operation Storm 95. M. Sekulić, “Knin je pao u Beogradu” (Knin Fell
in Belgrade), 192.
185 SVA MORH, ZZPS: 7th Guards Brigade, cl. str.- conf. 8/95-01/05, reg. no. 1080-01-95-138 of 13 August
1995; Analysis of the off ensive actions of the 7th Guards Brigade during the off ensive operation Storm. SVA
MORH, GSHV: ZP Split Command, IZM Zadar, cl. str. conf. 81/95-01/19, reg. no. 1080-01-95-56 of 154
August 1995; Analysis of the off ensive operation Kozjak-95.
186 MORH, GSHV: Republic of Croatia, the President, cl. 80-01/95-02/08, reg. no. 512-06-05/01-95-388/2 of
5 August 1995; Decision.
187 A. Gotovina, «Napadajni bojevi i operacije HV i HVO» (HV and HVO Off ensive Battles and Operations),
80. MORH, GSHV: 7th Gbr, cl. str. conf. 8/95-01/01, reg. no. 3112-03-T-95-136 of 6 August 1995; Daily
operational report.
188 SVA MORH, ZZPS: 6th Home Guard Reg., IZM Gorje, cl. 8/95-01-88, reg. no. 8311-01-01/95-1170 of 12
August 1995; Report. SVA MORH, GSHV: ZP Split Command, IZM Zadar, cl. str. conf. 81/95-01/19, reg. no.
1080-01-95-56 of 15 August 1995; Analysis of off ensive operation Kozjak-95.
189 M. Sekulić, “Knin je pao u Beogradu” (Knin Fell in Belgrade), 192-193.
190 M. Sekulić, “Knin je pao u Beogradu” (Knin Fell in Belgrade), 193-194.
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