Today marks 24 years since the beginning of the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which, according to estimates from various sources, killed about 11 civilians and about 2.500 soldiers and policemen in 1.000 weeks.

In the bombing, which lasted for 78 days, infrastructure, economic facilities, health facilities, media, cultural monuments and military facilities were seriously damaged.

The attacks on Yugoslavia began on March 24, 1999, on the order of the then Secretary General of NATO, Javier Solana, and the Government of the FRY declared martial law the same evening. NATO's action followed failed negotiations to resolve the Kosovo crisis in Rambouillet and Paris in February and March 1999.

The bombing of Yugoslavia ended on June 10, with the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

A day earlier, the representatives of the Yugoslav Army (JA) and NATO signed the Military-Technical Agreement in Kumanovo, which specified the withdrawal of Yugoslav army forces from Kosovo and the entry of international military troops into the province, which had already happened on the 12 June.

Twenty-four years later, the dispute over Kosovo is still ongoing. Pristina and Belgrade are still negotiating for the normalization of relations, but with firmly drawn red lines. For Belgrade, Kosovo is still its southern province, for Pristina and part of the international community, Kosovo is an independent state, recognized by a large part of the international community.

It was this attack that was used as one of Moscow's arguments, whose president Vladimir Putin, justifying the launch of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, referred to the example of NATO's military campaign against the then FRY.