The horrendous images coming out of Ukraine have shocked the world, with millions of Ukrainians forced from their towns and villages, their homes destroyed.
The images have awoken some brutal memories among people in Croatia, especially eastern Croatia, which experienced similar aggression in the Homeland War from 1991-5.
I am just back from the east, where I recorded the first TCN video podcast with Englishman Steve Gaunt, who has lived in Vinkovci since arriving in Croatia in 1991 to fight as a volunteer for Croatia in their war of independence.
Steve has a fascinating story which you will soon be able to watch, as we recorded for more than an hour in his magical English pub, The White Boar, in a field in the middle of nowhere in eastern Croatia.
Steve was wounded in the fighting, but carried on, despite losing a foot. He was also very active with the media as a photographer and helping out the international media, in particular ITN News. He formed a great relationship with ITN News anchor, the legendary Michael Nicholson, who gave him a lot of the uncut footage of his reporting as a parting gift.
Steve has decided to publish that footage on his YouTube channel, Steve Gaunt – you can subscribe here. PLEASE NOTE – these images are VERY disturbing.
The videos are all from November 18 1991, the day that Vukovar finally fell after a brutal 87-day siege. The scenes of people trudging through the ruins of the city and being led out into exile are truly harrowing.
Even unedited, the footage is compelling viewing, and the level of detail it captures makes it an important historical reminder of what happened that day.
But the most harrowing is the third video of the three, as Nicholson and his camera crew have a tour of the basement hospital where around 600 patients (including 12 babies born in horrific conditions) somehow managed to exist from day to day, despite there being no basic supplies such as running water for over a month.
The interviews with the heroic doctors are testament to the bravery and dedication of true heroes working in the most appalling conditions. But what makes the footage even more terrifying is what happened next.
The same day as Nicholson and his team visited the hospital, Vukovar fell, and the Serbs entered the hospital. Some 200 were taken away and murdered. According to Steve, these included the heroic doctor in the lead photo.
The female doctor who gave the main interview survived, as did the injured baby, who is now married.
