August the 4th, 2025 – The 30th anniversary of the launch of Operation Storm (Oluja), often named the Battle of All Battles, is currently being marked.
On this day (August the 4th, 1995), Operation Storm (Oluja) began. It was one of the crucial and most spectacular military actions of the entire Homeland War. Operation Storm began at 05:00, when Croatian military and police forces began an attack on Serb occupied areas along a line from Bosansko Grahovo in the south to Jasenovac in the east, spanning total length of over 630 kilometres.
In the first hours of the operation, Croatian forces quickly made breakthroughs, controlling very important positions. The Croatian Air Force destroyed enemy radio relay nodes in the areas of Ćelavac, Petrova and Zrinska gora. On the very first day, Sveti Rok and the surrounding towns were liberated, and Croatian forces made a breakthrough to the outskirts of Knin, the key centre of the Serb occupied area. Led by the Croatian Armed Forces and special police units, it directly involved 130,000 to 200,000 people.
The start of Operation Storm was marked by intensive shelling and artillery and rocket fire on Serb held positions. This was followed by deadly action by the Croatian Air Force which destroyed enemy radio and command hubs, such as the radio relay stations in the aforementioned areas. Croatian President Franjo Tuđman issued a public call for members of the Serb forces of the occupied Krajina region to lay down their arms, with a guarantee that all those who did not participate in the rebellion would be amnestied according to Croatian law. Thus, in addition to military pressure, the operation also had a clear political dimension that called for a peaceful return to constitutional order by the Croats.
All these activities, which lasted from the 4th to the 7th of August, led to the liberation of a large part of Serbian occupied territory of Croatia.
Operation Storm was decisive and lasted only 84 hours, during which about 10,400 to 11,000 square kilometres of occupied territory, or almost a fifth of the country, were liberated. This also enabled the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the peaceful reintegration of the Danube region. Thanks to the success of the operation, a large Croatian flag was raised in Knin on August the 5th, symbolising the end of the occupation of the area.
Operation Storm remains one of the most important moments in modern Croatian history, a symbol of Croatia’s liberation struggle, the crushing of the Serb agenda, and the final establishment of Croatia’s sovereignty over its territory.
