Serbian President Announces Construction of Chapel at the Site of the Tragedy, While Croatia Continues to Reject Serbia's Indictment for the 1995 Shelling of the Column.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and the informal Serbian leader in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, laid wreaths on Sunday, August 2, 2026, at the memorial site in the village of Janjila near Bosanski Petrovac. They paid tribute to the victims of the shelling of the Serbian refugee column on Petrovačka Road on August 7, 1995, an event that followed the military-police operation Storm.
On that occasion, Vučić described the shelling of the column as "the most terrible cold-blooded crime" against civilians, emphasizing that no one has been held accountable for it to this day. "Our obligation is to remember this event and to ensure that the children and elderly who perished on Petrovačka Road are never forgotten," Vučić stated, as reported by Slobodna Dalmacija. He shared a similar message on social media, writing that it is our duty to ensure that the children and all innocent victims never fall into oblivion, as reported by Kurir.rs.
According to data from the Serbian and Republika Srpska authorities, ten civilians were killed in the attack, including four children. Dodik described the attack as an insidious crime that testifies to hatred towards Serbs. Vučić announced that Serbia has secured funding for the construction of a chapel at the site, in addition to the existing memorial.
In 2022, Serbia filed an indictment against four retired officers of the Croatian Air Force. The indictment charges them with shelling the refugee column on Petrovačka Road and in the town of Svodna (some sources also cite the name Svodni) during August 1995. Croatia officially rejects this indictment, considering it legally unfounded and unacceptable due to Serbia's application of universal jurisdiction over events from the Homeland War.
Vučić's stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina is planned as a two-day visit. After paying tribute near Bosanski Petrovac, on Monday, August 3, 2026, he will participate in the central commemoration in Mrkonjić Grad. The gathering is dedicated to the Serbs who were killed and displaced during and after Operation Storm. The commemoration is also expected to be attended by the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije.
