Petrinja Celebrates 31 Years of Freedom
The city marks Liberation Day and the Day of Petrinja Defenders with a rich program that began at dawn.
The city marks Liberation Day and the Day of Petrinja Defenders with a rich program that began at dawn.
A day after the central state ceremony in Knin, Petrinja is today the focal point of the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm. The city simultaneously celebrates its Liberation Day and the Day of Petrinja Defenders, with the program starting as early as 5:30 AM with a traditional reveille that passed through the city streets.
According to the schedule reported by Hrvatska Danas and HRT, the day's events include laying wreaths and lighting candles for fallen Croatian defenders, a ceremonial procession through the streets of Petrinja, and a thanksgiving Mass for the liberation of the city and the freedom of Croatia. The central event is expected at 2 PM in the Senjak neighborhood of Petrinja.
At the monument dedicated to Predrag Matanović and his comrades, Branko Šubić will be welcomed by Mayor Magdalena Komes. He will complete a 205-kilometer stage ultramarathon held as part of the project "Branko Šubić for Defenders." The commemoration will conclude with a concert at the city bathing area in the evening.
Petrinja was liberated on August 6, 1995, the third day of Operation Storm, which lasted from August 4 to 7. On that day, Croatian forces managed to liberate a significant part of Banovina, Lika, and northern Dalmatia. Alongside Petrinja, Glina, Slunj, Korenica, Udbina, Kostajnica, Vrhovine, Plitvice, Bunić, Blinja, Banski Grabovac, Jabukovac, Barlete, Mogorić, and many other settlements were also liberated.
A particularly significant moment occurred at Tržačke Raštela on the Korana River. There, units of the Croatian Army, led by Major General Marijan Mareković, met with members of the 5th Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, commanded by General Atif Dudaković, achieving one of the key military objectives of the operation.
A day earlier, on August 5, 1995, Knin and numerous places in Dalmatia, Lika, and Kordun were liberated, including Gračac, Drniš, Benkovac, Obrovac, Lovinac, Vrlika, Škabrnja, Saborsko, and Rakovica. This broke the rebel authority over most of the occupied Croatian territory, and Operation Storm remains remembered as the final liberation operation of the Homeland War, which reclaimed the largest part of the previously occupied territory of the Republic of Croatia.
