The offensive was launched at 5 am on August 4 along the line running from Bosansko Grahovo to the south to Jasenovac to the east, the front line being more than 630 kilometres long. Within the following 84 hours slightly less than 10,500 square kilometres of territory, almost a fifth of the country, was liberated.
The operation culminated on August 5, when the Croatian Army’s 4th and 7th Guard Brigades liberated Knin, the heart of the Serb rebellion, displaying a 20-metre-long Croatian flag on the town’s fortress at noon.
About 200,000 Croatian soldiers and police took part in the biggest operation of the Homeland War.
Operation Storm marked the end of the war in Croatia, created conditions for the peaceful reintegration of the eastern Danube River region, helped break the siege of the northwestern Bosnian town of Bihać, and enabled the return of refugees and displaced persons.
This year’s central commemoration will be held in Knin, and the event will be addressed by retired general Mladen Markač, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and President and Commander-in-Chief Zoran Milanović.
