On Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Index.hr presents a touching gallery of reader-submitted photos alongside the stories of Croatian defenders and their families from the famous operation.
On this day, August 5, 2026, Croatia celebrates Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders, commemorating the military-police operation Storm. To mark the occasion, Index.hr has published an extensive gallery of 51 photos sent in by readers themselves, each accompanied by a personal, often deeply emotional story about the participants of this historic event.
Among the messages received, the gratitude of the children of the deputy commander of the 12th Home Guard Regiment Petrinja stands out: "Thank you to our father, deputy commander of the 12th DP Petrinja, a volunteer in the Homeland War, a defender on the front lines of defense of his beloved city of Petrinja in the magnificent victory - Operation Storm. Your courage and love for your beloved city are forever woven into your children. Today, we walk with pride through our city and our country. Thank you, Dad!"
A similar message was sent by Ivan, the son of defender Željko, who took part in the operation in Hrvatska Kostajnica: "With pride and gratitude, I dedicate this message to my father Željko, a defender of the Homeland in the glorious Operation Storm... Your courage, sacrifice, and love for the Homeland will never be forgotten. Thank you for standing guard over freedom, your deed remains the enduring foundation of our peace."
The photos also capture moments of celebration. The daughter of Zlatko Mandić, known as Bantek, shared a family photo from the troops' welcome at Jarun after Operation Storm. "In the photo are my dad, mom, my two brothers, me (the daughter), and the wife and child of a friend who was with him in the war," she wrote. The gallery also shows members of numerous units in the field, from the 73rd Military Police Battalion, which took part in the liberation of Drniš, to the Karlovac Company Rebels at Turanj and Šanac, and the Special Police Unit Ban of the Koprivnica-Križevci Police Department in the Gračac, D. Lapac, and Boričevac areas.
There is also a photo of Joško Miličević, a member of the SJP Alfa Zagreb, from Velebit in 1993, as well as a shot by Tomislav P. from Operation Storm itself. A special place is held by the photo of Komarev taken on August 6, 1995.
A particularly touching story was told by Dr. Stanković Siniša, a young doctor who went to war as a volunteer on June 26, 1991, in Banija. His wartime journey ended on September 17, 1995, in Operation Una, and he left the Croatian Army on March 31, 1996. Alongside a photo taken somewhere before the entrance to Dvor na Uni, he described an encounter with a child from a column of fleeing Serbs.
"Two days earlier, his mother and father had been killed. In the column. Our plane attacked them. They found him in some bushes, thorns by the roadside, and took him along. All this was told to me by the lady in the photo behind him. She asked me to help him. He was all scratched. He didn't say a single word. He didn't shed a single tear," wrote Dr. Stanković.
The photos reveal a wide range of locations and units: the 24th Međimurje Home Guard Regiment near Hrvatska Kostajnica, the 113th Šibenik Brigade and the 7th Guards Brigade "Pume" near Knin, the 202nd Artillery-Rocket Brigade and the 4th Artillery Brigade Bjelovar at the Jasenovac position, and the 153rd Velika Gorica Brigade entering Glina and guarding the border near Velika Kladuša. There are also members of the 253rd Independent Signals Company of the Gospić ZP at Lipice, Pogledalo, and Glibodol. Among the famous unit names are also Vještice and Gromovi.
Photographer Danijel Frketić captured a relaxed moment in liberated Petrinja, with a special thank you: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the women who knitted these sweaters for us back in '91." Additionally, a defender's widow shared a photo of her husband and comrades from the 57th Independent Battalion Marijan Celjak from 1991, and Mladen's wife sent a picture of her husband and his comrades from the 113th Šibenik Brigade somewhere near Knin.
The full gallery of 51 photos, along with numerous other personal testimonies, can be viewed on Index.hr.
