31 Years Since Operation Storm: How Three Pumas Took Down the Serbian Flag

On this day, August 5, 2026, Croatia marks the 31st anniversary of the military-police operation Storm, Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, and Croatian Veterans Day. The central symbol of victory in the Homeland War remains the raising of the Croatian flag on Knin Fortress, an act that over three decades ago signified the liberation of Knin and the end of years of Serbian rebellion and aggression.

Key Moment at Knin Fortress

After Croatian forces entered Knin on August 5, 1995, members of the 7th Guards Brigade Pumas from Varaždin, following orders from General Ivan Korade, removed the Serbian flag from the mast on Knin Fortress between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Guardsmen Jasmin Hadžić, Mario Bilać, and Eduard Baltić were the first to climb the mast, but due to a tangled mechanism, they could not immediately raise the large Croatian banner. Instead, they unfurled it over the fortress walls, creating one of the most iconic images of the Homeland War. The flag was later placed on the mast, and the next day it greeted the first Croatian President, Franjo Tuđman, upon his arrival in liberated Knin. In Zagreb, at the Croatian Memorial Documentation Center of the Homeland War, the original 20-meter-long flag is currently housed.

Operation That Changed the Course of the War

The military-police operation Storm began at dawn on August 4, 1995, with an attack along a front nearly 600 kilometers long. It lasted 85 hours and involved nearly 200,000 members of the Croatian Army and Police. The area that was occupied and is now liberated covers more than 11,000 square kilometers. During the operation, 243 Croatian defenders lost their lives, 1,430 were wounded, and two are still listed as missing. In 1998, with the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region, the process of establishing the territorial integrity of the state was completed.

Knin had been the center of the Serbian rebellion since August 1990, when the so-called Log Revolution began the uprising of local Serbs against the new Croatian government. During 1991, the rebellion escalated into open armed conflict supported by the Yugoslav People's Army, and the town became the center of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. The Croatian population was expelled, and Knin remained outside the constitutional legal order until its liberation in Operation Storm.

Celebrations Across the Country

The central ceremony takes place at the NK Dinara stadium, from where attendees will follow the flag-raising ceremony at Knin Fortress via video link. The ringing of Knin's church bells and honorary salvoes will announce the raising of the flag, accompanied by the Croatian anthem. At the fortress, in memory of fallen and missing defenders, 245 cadets from the Croatian Army and Police Academy students will be lined up, and the program will include demonstrations of the capabilities of the Croatian Army and Police, as well as a flight program by the Croatian Air Force. Addresses by state leadership and the reading of the history of Operation Storm and the names of fallen and missing defenders are planned.

Pride in Zagorje Contribution

On the occasion of the national holiday, Krapina-Zagorje County Prefect Željko Kolar extended congratulations to all residents of the county and citizens of Croatia.

"We are especially proud of the contribution of the people of Zagorje in the Homeland War,"